Drag queen Pattie Gonia is asking fans for help fighting Patagonia, the popular outdoor apparel and gear company, which has sued the outspoken environmental activist for trademark infringement.
The Ventura-based company filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court in January after the environmentalist drag queen submitted an application for the exclusive right to use the brand Pattie Gonia for marketing, activism and clothing sales.
Wyn Wiley, who performs as Pattie Gonia, has millions of followers on social media and has raised nearly $4 million for environmental nonprofits. Last year, the drag queen raised $1 million by hiking 100 miles from Point Reyes to San Francisco.
Patagonia sued Wiley for $1 in damages plus legal fees, saying it supports the performer’s causes but wants to protect the company’s branding. Pattie Gonia and their supporters are urging the brand to drop the suit.
In its complaint, Patagonia wrote that the drag queen’s “products and services compete directly with the products and advocacy upon which Patagonia built its Patagonia brand over the last fifty-three years.”
Pattie Gonia “appropriates Patagonia’s brand and identity in a way that has already confused consumers, and will continue to confuse consumers, about Patagonia’s role in producing or sponsoring Pattie Gonia’s products, events and public appearances,” the complaint said.
Pattie Gonia responded on social media this week, saying the Patagonia case is trying to take away their right to use the name and it could cost them $1 million in legal fees.
“This is not a brand conflict, this is a corporation trying to erase an activist,” the drag queen said in an Instagram video. Pattie Gonia also posted an open letter to the company, writing that “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 included photos in its legal filings showing Pattie Gonia branded stickers that closely mimic the Patagonia logo. The drag queen’s stickers include the same mountain silhouette used by Patagonia. The company also included examples of social media comments by confused followers, with one saying, “I genuinely thought this was a Patagonia ad for too long… or is it?”
Pattie Gonia said in a video that the company “cherry picks a few examples of playful parody and fan art and tries to spin those into some kind of vast use of their logo.”
The company said it worked with Pattie Gonia for years to reach an agreement and avoid going to court. It said the performer violated this agreement by filing a trademark application to use the name Pattie Gonia for wide-ranging commercial sales.
“While we wish we didn’t have to do this — and actively engaged with Pattie for several years to avoid this — it has become necessary to protect the brand we have spent the last 50 years building,” Patagonia said in a statement in January. “We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on issues that matter — but in a way that respects Patagonia’s intellectual property and ability to use our brand to sell products.”
Patagonia posted another statement Wednesday, reiterating that the company had hoped to reach an agreement without filing suit. The company takes its name from a mountainous region spanning Argentina and Chile.
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