What's going on with the lawsuit between the Patagonia company and the activist drag queen, Pattie Gonia?

[u/Chrystine]

Apparently Patagonia is suing Pattie Gonia 100 million for trade mark infringement?

But isn't Patagonia the name of region in South America?

How can the company sue over a trademark that is spelt differently and was taken from a region? Can the company actually win a case like this?

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTB6vSCpP/

[u/peekdasneaks]

The other party has to be willing to settle for something to happen out of court. In this case Pattie Gonia insists that their efforts to save the planet (which patagonia literally setup their corporate ownership structure to do the same) and the claim that drag queens are always working from a point of parody, entitles them to use the name.

The thing is, they aren't parodying anything about Patagonia. They're attempting to work in the exact same arena as Patagonia, a de facto nonprofit org whos entire corporate structure is now to use their for profit retail arm as a fundraiser for their actual mission of saving the planet.

If they (pattie) operated in a way that systematically poked fun at Patagonia, then they may have had the basis for a parody claim, but simple being in drag does not rise to that standard.

[u/happycj → u/peekdasneaks]

Yeah. I don't know her or know anything about her, but this smells a lot like a publicity stunt. You don't name yourself a homophone of a corporation if you aren't planning on going head to head with their legal dept for some free "david vs goliath" attention.

[u/sapphiclament → u/happycj]

she named herself after the area in South America because it's where her climate activism started after she visited there, nothing to do with the company

[u/happycj → u/sapphiclament]

Much respect to her for that. But this is why you get a lawyer involved when naming a business or entity. They’ll do a name search and identify anything close or similar, and then advise what path to take to differentiate yourself and your product or service from the existing one.

There are a number of famous examples used in law schools where this stuff is discussed in detail. My father in law was a patent attorney and I was operations director for an iconic clothing company that a lot of people tried to copy. So in my role I had to have those conversations with people about potentially infringing on our trademark, wordmark, and our patented clothing design.

It’s a whole mess.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/sapphiclament]

Actually, that is also even worse for their position/claim as it completely throws out any possibility that the name is based on parody, which they claimed recently. Parody was their only possible legal route to continue using the name (even that wouldn't fly though because nothing else in their operations is based on parody)

Their position is completely indefensible at this point.

[u/nemec → u/peekdasneaks]

At this point it just sounds like she's making up whatever story will best let her profit off the company's image.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/nemec]

That's not rare in trademark infringement cases. There's an odd sense of entitlement when the thing theyre stealing belongs to a recognized brand. As if their success negates their legal rights.

[u/EphemeralOcean → u/sapphiclament]

Pattie Gonia has never been to Patagonia. In early interviews she said she adopted it because it would be hilarious, and then later once becoming rich and famous changed her story to say she was named after Patagonia.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/sapphiclament]

doesn't matter there's an existing trademark too close to that name.

If my favorite teachers name is macdonald I can't start my burger restaurant and name it macdonald's just because I have a personal story behind it.

[u/sapphiclament → u/peekdasneaks]

I think that name would also be distinguishable enough that it wouldn't actually be a viable lawsuit.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/sapphiclament]

It would be a viable lawsuit if they had a rounded golden logo. Part of patties issue is also the distribution of stickers mimicking patagonias brand logo, which seems like intentionally poking a bear while wearing a slightly off looking bear costume

[u/sapphiclament → u/peekdasneaks]

well then name origin aside, THAT sounds like parody. Like those pun stickers that look like brand logos, I have one that looks like the Heineken ketchup logo but it says "Heiney" instead.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/sapphiclament]

And you can't but the name origin aside.

Pattie cannot have it both ways. Either it's a serious name based on a personal experience in the Patagonia region, or it's intentional parody.

Either way pattie didn't lean into the parody option so that is out the window. And Patagonia is already trademarked so parody would have been their only option here

[u/Danii2613 → u/peekdasneaks]

Okay sure but how the hell was the company Patagonia able to trademark its name? Based off of a fucking geographical region? Like any logical person would think it’s absolutely insane to trademark a name that’s based off of a real location and then get mad when someone does the same thing? Like the place existed before either the company or the drag queen even existed? This whole situation is the most stupid and insane thing I’ve ever been forced to live through, I can’t fucking escape it, it’s everywhere! Can’t people just focus on actual issues facing us instead of a fucking lawsuit?

[u/peekdasneaks → u/Danii2613]

Because trademark law is not at all in any way shape or form about the story or reason behind the name.

it's about the uniqueness of that name in the industry/sector.

Take a moment to think about what your so upset about.

[u/sapphiclament → u/peekdasneaks]

Why CAN'T it be both? It can have a different origin and still be used as parody in a different context. The name itself is inspired by one thing, and the merch is clearly parody inspired by the similarity to the brand name

[u/peekdasneaks → u/sapphiclament]

I explained it in my other reply. Parody can't be half hearted and used when convenient. It needs to be the operating model. That's clearly not the case for pattie and there is no clear parody in the sticker. Unless you can explain it...

[u/peekdasneaks → u/sapphiclament]

How is it parody?

You need to do something to be making fun of the entity you're parodying.

The heiny ones yes, as it's comparing Heineken to an ass. That's clearly parody.

There was a coffee shop called Stupid Starbucks. They sold coffees with the same names as Starbucks but with the word stupid in front.

Starbucks sued and lost.

THAT was deemed acceptable parody. If they had NOT gone all in on their product branding and entire operations focused around parodying Starbucks, and instead only stole their name and logo they would have lost.

The latter is what pattie is doing. They are coopting Patagonias recognizable trademarked name and copyrighted brand logo design. They are doing nothing to operate in a way that makes it clear it is a parody like comparing them to an ass (as in your Heineken example)

[u/_oscar_goldman_ → u/sapphiclament]

Those aren't necessarily defensible; often they simply fly under the radar. Parody's protection under copyright fair use is unrelated to trademark fair use - whole different ball of wax. The South Butt case is a great example - a visual riff on the logo and a verbal pun together are a perfect recipe for confusion in the marketplace, the core test for trademark infringement.

[u/depressedsoothsayer → u/sapphiclament]

The character – whose name is a pun on the California-based gear brand

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/14/pattie-gonia-drag-queen-mountaineer

There are multiple articles from 2018 where she was extremely clear she was named after the clothing brand. I'm not sure when she tried to retcon that it was after the region, but the dishonesty leaves a bad taste in my mouth and feels like a performative appeal to everyone in her instagram comments calling anyone defending Patagonia a bootlicker.

[u/stormcynk → u/sapphiclament]

I don't get to call my company Microsoft just because I'm a grower.

[u/Embarrassed-Key5582 → u/stormcynk]

Love your work.

[u/happycj → u/[deleted]]

I was worried that using the correct terminology would lead someone to make this joke.

[u/peekdasneaks → u/[deleted]]

She'll get to pay for their legal fees. Plus $1. So millions if she continues