Patagonia takes to social media in trademark infringment dispute
Ventura-based Patagonia has taken to social media to urge drag queen and climate activist Pattie Gonia, who the company is suing for trademark infringement, to help resolve the dispute.
In a May 31 Instagram post, the outdoor apparel company asked Pattie Gonia, the stage name of Wyn Wiley to:
· Withdraw all trademark applications.
· Stop using Patagonia logos.
· Stop selling and promoting apparel and other products as Pattie Gonia.
“If we can agree on this, we can work out everything else, and Pattie Gonia could continue as a performer and activist,” the post said.
But in a May 27 open letter to the company, Gonia said that “with respect and hope, I ask you to intervene and drop this lawsuit today.”
Patagonia’s civil action, filed in January in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles, names as defendants Entrepreneur Enterprises doing business as Pattie Gonia Productions and Wiley.
The company said it brought the civil complaint in response to the defendants’ trademark application claiming the exclusive right to the brand Pattie Gonia, for, among other things, apparel, online marketing services, and promoting public awareness of and motivational speaking services in support of environmental sustainability and LGBTQIA2S+ equality.
“These products and services compete directly with the products and advocacy upon which Patagonia built its Patagonia brand over the last fifty-three years,” the lawsuit states.
Patagonia said in its May 31 post that it wishes the lawsuit had not been necessary, “and we want to acknowledge any hurt it has caused, especially in the LGBTQ+ community.
“We don’t want to argue trademark law on social media,” the post continued. “Importantly, we continue to want to resolve this.”
The post added that Patagonia and the defendants “share common ground, including the goal of saving our home planet and creating a more inclusive outdoors.”
In a statement in January when it filed its lawsuit, Patagonia said it had actively engaged with Pattie Gonia for several years to avoid taking the dispute to court, but an agreement could not be reached.
The lawsuit, therefore, became necessary to protect the Patagonia brand, the company said.
In the May 27 open letter to Patagonia, Gonia said that after eight years building a business, “some executives at your company and your outside lawyers have decided that I must cease to exist.”
When Patagonia filed its lawsuit, “I started immediately pursuing an amicable settlement,” Gonia said.
“I have believed from the beginning that there is room for an agreement that protects your trademark while letting me keep my name and my work,” Gonia said. “I believe that still today.”
The 16,000 replies to Patagonia’s May 31 post were mixed, with some supporting the company’s lawsuit and others demanding it be dismissed.
