Patagonia, the out of doors attire firm, is suing Pattie Gonia, the drag queen and environmentalist, for trademark infringement—a transfer the corporate says is critical to “defend the model [it has] spent the final 50 years constructing.”
In a lawsuit filed in California federal court docket this week, Patagonia argues that Pattie Gonia’s identify, notably when used on attire or in assist of environmental sustainability, competes “instantly” with the merchandise and advocacy work core to Patagonia.
Patagonia claims in its grievance that the overlapping names have already confused prospects, and {that a} current transfer from the drag queen to promote her personal branded attire goes in opposition to a previous settlement the 2 events had. The corporate is in search of a “nominal” $1.00 in damages.
“We’re not in opposition to artwork, artistic expression, or commentary about our model,” Patagonia says in a statement. “We wish Pattie to have an extended and profitable profession and make progress on points that matter—however in a manner that respects Patagonia’s mental property and talent to make use of our model to promote merchandise and advocate for the setting.”
Overlapping work
In accordance with the lawsuit, the corporate and the environmentalist have lengthy brazenly mentioned how Pattie Gonia can proceed her advocacy work and model offers with out infringing on Patagonia’s logos.
Pattie Gonia reportedly beforehand agreed to not use her identify “in any kind” on merchandise, to not use or show Patagonia’s logos, and to not use the identical font, Belwe, that Patagonia makes use of.
However in line with Patagonia, in 2024, Pattie Gonia bought branded attire on-line and used variations of the corporate emblem, after which in September 2025, she sought to trademark the model “Pattie Gonia” to be used on clothes and attire, and to vow environmental activism.
“These rights would instantly overlap with the work we do and the merchandise we offer,” the corporate mentioned.
The lawsuit cites t-shirts bought on Pattie Gonia’s web site that say “Pattie Gonia Mountaineering Membership” together with stickers and gloves worn by the drag queen that appear to mimic Patagonia’s emblem.
On the time of publication, Pattie Gonia’s merch page confirmed her attire as being bought out. Pattie Gonia didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Patagonia says it may well’t ‘selectively select’ to implement its trademark
Members of the general public have already been confused as as to if or not Pattie Gonia is affiliated with Patagonia, the corporate claims. The lawsuit consists of screenshots of a Pattie Gonia social media publish on which commenters praised the corporate, and even mentioned they “genuinely thought this was a Patagonia advert.”
Whereas Pattie Gonia has partnered with out of doors teams and types together with The North Face, Nationwide Geographic, REI, and Backcountry, in line with her website, she has not formally partnered with Patagonia. (The corporate has featured Pattie Gonia and her nonprofit, The Outdoorist Oath, in an interview on the Patagonia web site.)
If the corporate doesn’t forestall individuals or teams, together with Pattie Gonia, from copying its model and emblem, it says, then it dangers “dropping the flexibility to defend our logos totally.”
Different teams, together with the oil and fuel foyer, have already misappropriated Patagonia’s identify and emblem. The lawsuit cites a t-shirt, for instance, that claims “Petrogonia” within the Patagonia font, in opposition to a silhouette of oil drilling gear that mimics the corporate’s mountain silhouette.
“To place a finer level on it, we can not selectively select to implement our rights primarily based on whether or not we agree with a specific viewpoint,” the corporate says. “For these causes Pattie Gonia’s use of a near-copy of our identify commercially . . . pose long-term threats to Patagonia’s model and our activism.”
Whereas Pattie Gonia didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, she and her enterprise mentioned in an announcement to Bloomberg Law that they’ve “by no means and can by no means reference the model Patagonia’s emblem or model,” including that there was “loads of room” for each the corporate and the drag queen to “play on this field.”
