Happy Pride! Patagonia Sues Drag Performer and Activist Pattie Gonia for Trademark Infringement

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Last week, drag queen and climate activist Pattie Gonia took to their Instagram account to discuss the lawsuit they are facing at the hands of Wall Street’s favorite vest manufacturer, Patagonia.

Patagonia is suing the queen for trademark infringement and told a federal court in January that Pattie is doing irreparable harm to their brand for, among other thing, “motivational speaking services in support of environmental sustainability” and “organizing, arranging, and conducting trail and hiking events.” As such, they are demanding that Pattie withdraw all trademark applications for the name “Pattie Gonia,” stop using Patagonia’s logos, and stop selling and promoting apparel and other products as Pattie Gonia.

Although they are only suing Pattie for $1, the queen estimates that her legal fees, if they try to fight them in court, could reach seven figures.

“This is not a brand conflict,” Pattie says. “This is a corporation trying to erase an activist. And this is how corporations bully individuals who cannot match their resources.”

Drag names, like Pattie’s, often employ puns, but Pattie claims their name is not a play on the brand name “Patagonia,” but, rather, on the mountainous region of the same name in South America. This point in particular, though, feels a bit disingenuous given that Pattie does, in fact, use a version of the Patagonia logo with a similar design and font in their own merch.

While Pattie’s name could be very well be protected under parody law and, arguably, poses no real danger to Patagonia in terms of consumer confusion , her use of such a similar graphic in her merch could, ultimately, be her undoing, according to a lawyer familiar with but in no way connected to the case.

Still, many view the lawsuit as an overreaction on Patagonia’s part, especially considering the David vs Goliath-esque mismatch of a multi-billion dollar company going after an activist and drag artist who has spent the last eight years raising, by Pattie’s estimates, around $3.7 million for queer and environmental nonprofits.

“Is that how you believe your company’s financial resources and brand equity should be spent” asked Pattie in an open letter posted to their website on May 27. “The lawsuit hurts not only me and everything I’ve built but also the people I employ, the millions of people I try to inspire, and dozens of nonprofit organizations that I have supported.”

Patagonia responded with a statement on their own Instagram account acknowledging the hurt their lawsuit has caused and saying that they want to resolve the issue, but insisting, none the less, that they will continue to pursue trademark protections against Pattie.