Patagonia sues drag queen and activist Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement

Fashion

The Patagonia store in Amsterdam Credits: Patagonia by Margriet Hoekstra

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A legal dispute is underway between the sportswear and accessories brand Patagonia and the American drag queen Pattie Gonia. On January 21, Patagonia filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Pattie Gonia, citing a need to respect intellectual property.

Patagonia stated in its complaint at the federal court of California that the artist, whose birth name is Wyn Wiley, uses the name Pattie Gonia, which is phonetically similar to the brand's name, on clothing and for advertising services that overlap with those of the brand, including “motivational speaking services in support of environmental sustainability” and “organising and conducting trail and trekking events”.

Pattie Gonia is the founder of the Queer Outdoor and Environmental Job Board. This is a free tool dedicated to helping queer individuals find employment, thereby diversifying these professional sectors.

In trademark law, when names are very similar and the goods or services overlap, courts generally find a likelihood of consumer confusion. “While we would have preferred to avoid this action, and have actively engaged with Pattie for several years to prevent it, we had to take action to protect the brand we have built over the past 50 years,” the company explained in a statement.

“We are not against art, creative expression or commentary on our brand. We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on important issues. However, this must be done in a way that respects Patagonia's intellectual property and our ability to use the brand to sell products and support environmental causes. For over three years, Patagonia maintained an open dialogue with Pattie Gonia to discuss how she could continue her environmental and social advocacy, brand contracts and other work without infringing on our trademarks. We believed we had reached an agreement, and for a time, it worked,” the management stressed.

According to the company, at the end of 2024, Pattie Gonia began selling 'Pattie Gonia' branded clothing online and continued to create and use versions of Patagonia's logo. “Our attempt to contact Pattie to ask her to abide by the agreement was rejected. A subsequent note, asking to discuss possible ways forward, went unanswered. Then, in September 2025, Pattie Gonia filed a trademark application for the exclusive right to use the name ‘Pattie Gonia’ to sell clothing; promote environmental activism; conduct online marketing and sponsorships; and more. These rights would directly overlap with the work we do and the products we provide, for which we have long-standing rights and trademark registrations,” Patagonia explained.

“To maintain our rights, we must prevent others from copying our trademarks and logos. If we failed to do so, we would risk losing the ability to defend our trademarks altogether. To be clear, we cannot pick and choose when to enforce our rights based on whether we agree with a particular viewpoint. Inconsistent enforcement could prevent us from stopping entities like oil and gas lobbies, counterfeiters, hate groups or other malicious actors from using the Patagonia name and logo,” the company further stressed.

“For these reasons, Pattie Gonia's commercial use of a name that is nearly identical to ours, including as a trademark for environmental activism, and her application to register for the exclusive right to use that name in the future, pose long-term threats to the Patagonia brand and our activism,” the statement concluded.

According to Lux Juris, Patagonia is seeking symbolic damages of one dollar. The primary remedies requested are injunctive. These include an order preventing the further use of Pattie Gonia, the refusal or cancellation of the trademark application, the destruction of counterfeit merchandise and a permanent injunction against future similar uses. The case is therefore set up as a brand protection action rather than a claim for damages.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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