Goverre Shark Tank Lawsuit Update: Govino, Cost, and Outcome

The Goverre Shark Tank lawsuit was a trademark and trade dress case filed by competing drinkware company Govino, LLC just seven days after Goverre’s April 2017 episode aired. It settled in March 2019 on undisclosed terms, but by the founders’ own account the entire $200,000 Shark Tank investment went to legal fees, and the company appears to have quietly ceased operations by late 2023.¹²

Who Sued Goverre and When

Govino, LLC filed suit on July 19, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The case was captioned Govino, LLC v. GoVerre, Inc. et al., case number 8:17-cv-01237.³ The complaint named GoVerre, Inc. along with co-founders Regan Kelaher and Shannon Zappala individually as defendants.

Govino, founded in 2008, sold shatterproof polymer wine glasses featuring a patented thumb-notch indentation and held multiple design patents and registered trademarks at the time of filing.⁴

What Govino Claimed

The complaint pleaded six causes of action:

Trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, alleging “Goverre” was confusingly similar to the registered “Govino” mark.
Trade dress infringement over the notched indent on the side wall of the glass.
Trademark dilution.
Federal unfair competition under the Lanham Act.
California statutory unfair competition under Business and Professions Code Section 17200.
Common law unfair competition, alleging willful passing off.

Govino also challenged Goverre’s slogan “Any Wine. Any Time.” and a silicone-sleeve design element it labeled the “Oval Mark,” arguing all three were likely to confuse consumers. The complaint cited actual customer confusion following the Shark Tank appearance.⁵

In parallel, Govino petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel Goverre’s registration for “Any Wine. Any Time.” That proceeding (No. 92066705) was suspended pending the district court case.⁵

How the Case Ended

The litigation ran roughly 676 days by Kelaher’s count and settled just before its scheduled 2019 trial.² Court records show the case was terminated on March 1, 2019.³

The settlement terms were not made public. Kelaher later said on the Female Startup Club podcast that the matter resolved “favorably in our favor,” and the founders described the original suit as “frivolous.”⁶ No public record shows a ruling on the merits of Govino’s claims, so that characterization reflects the defendants’ view rather than a judicial finding.

What the Lawsuit Cost Goverre

Kelaher and Zappala have said the full $200,000 Shark Tank investment from Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Robert Herjavec went to legal costs.¹ The founders had given up 33.3% equity in exchange for that capital, meaning the deal’s financial benefit was effectively wiped out by attorneys’ fees.⁷

The non-financial cost was time. Kelaher told the Female Startup Club that the case cost the company “a couple of years of not being able to innovate and to create new products.”⁶ The stall came at the worst possible moment, right when post-Shark Tank momentum was strongest.

After the settlement, Goverre did try to regroup. It expanded into champagne flutes, cocktail glasses, and charcuterie plates, partnered with luggage brand VinGardeValise, and shifted to a digital-first sales strategy during the pandemic.⁸²

Where Goverre Stands Now

The recovery does not appear to have held. Kelaher left the company in October 2022 and returned to Kaiser Permanente as a financial planning and analysis consultant.¹ Goverre’s Instagram and Facebook accounts went silent in August 2023, every product on the official website is listed as sold out, and the Amazon storefront shows nothing available.² The remaining Goverre products in circulation appear on secondhand marketplaces like eBay.⁸

Govino, meanwhile, continues to sell its polymer drinkware through retailers.⁹

1
Food Republic. Goverre Shark Tank Now
2
Mashed. What Happened to Goverre After Shark Tank
3
CourtListener. Govino, LLC v. Goverre, Inc. — Parties
4
Scribd. Govino v. Goverre Complaint
5
USPTO TTAB. Cancellation Proceeding No. 92066705
6
Female Startup Club. Shannon Zappala and Regan Kelaher, Goverre
7
The Daily Meal. Where Goverre From Shark Tank Is Today
8
The Takeout. What Happened to Shark Tank’s Goverre
9
Sign of the Bear. GoVino