Outdoor apparel company sues drag queen Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement
Remy Tumin
Patagonia is taking Pattie Gonia to court.
The outdoor clothing company is suing the drag queen and environmental activist for trademark infringement, arguing that Pattie Gonia has moved away from “the discrete use of a persona to engage in activism” and “transformed into a commercial venture.” By doing so, Pattie Gonia caused irreparable harm to Patagonia, the company said in a lawsuit filed in January.
Speaking publicly on social media last week for the first time since the lawsuit was filed, Gonia called on Patagonia to drop the lawsuit, saying the company was trying to permanently strip her of her name and “erase an activist.”
Trademark attorney Nancy J. Mertzel, who is not connected to the case, said the case will hinge on the role of First Amendment rights and parody in a dispute over the brand name and services.
“Even though Patagonia is a very public interest company, they need to protect their assets,” he said. “I definitely think there’s a lot at stake for Pattie as a spokesperson and environmental activist.”
Pattie Gonia, created by Wyn Wiley, said that she started wearing a pair of heels during a backpacking trip in 2018 and named her drag persona after the region of South America known for its natural beauty.
Since then, Gonia has built an online community around her mission to connect queer people, people of color, and low-income communities with the outdoors and host climate-inspired drag shows across the United States. He has more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram and nearly 900,000 followers on TikTok.
Wiley also co-founded Oath, an organization that promotes climate solutions and inclusion.
According to the lawsuit filed by Patagonia in January in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the company met with Gonia in 2022 and Gonia agreed to restrict the use of the name “Pattie Gonia” in fonts or designs that imitate Patagonia.
The transvestite started selling Pattie Gonia brand clothes online in 2025. Patagonia asked him to stop, the lawsuit said, citing the 2022 agreement. A few months later, Gonia applied for a trademark to register the name for clothing, marketing and events.
In a statement released after several online statements from Gonia, Patagonia said they hope to avoid a lawsuit.
“We want to acknowledge any pain it has caused, especially in the LGBTQ+ community,” the company wrote. “Importantly, we continue to want to solve this.”
The company said “we can do this” if Gonia agrees to three things: drop the trademark applications, stop use of the mountainscape logo, and stop selling and promoting clothing and other products as “Pattie Gonia.”
“If we can agree on this, we can handle everything else and Pattie Gonia can move on as an artist and activist,” the company wrote. “We share common ground with them, including saving our planet and creating a more inclusive outdoor environment.”
Gonia denied using the Patagonia brand, logo, or font on its product website, arguing instead that “the plaintiff haphazardly selected several examples of playful parody and fan art and attempted to turn them into a broad use of their logo.”
“This was not a blanket agreement about my future,” he said in a recorded post on social media last week, referring to Patagonia’s claims about the 2022 agreement.
“Drag parody is based on puns and jokes, but I’m prepared to never parody their logo again,” he said.
Gonia said she filed to trademark the name “not to compete with a multi-billion dollar company” but because of a trademark dispute she was facing with another drag queen, Lexi Love.
‘You don’t need proof of actual confusion; There is a possibility that the test may be confused.’
Trademark attorney Nancy J. Mertzel
Gonia said the timing of Patagonia’s lawsuit comes “at the height of anti-LGBTQ policies and attacks.” “They looked at this political moment and thought they could get it done without any backtracking,” he said.
In response to Patagonia’s application, Gonia denied the allegations and requested a full jury trial. The drag queen’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
Mertzel said he wasn’t surprised Patagonia moved forward with the case.
“There is a common saying in the trademark world that trademark owners must actively police and enforce their marks,” he said, adding that trademarks “become weak” if they are not enforced.
He noted other examples of Patagonia taking its name, including oil and paramilitary organizations.
Mertzel said there are two main issues underlying the legal claims. The first is whether “Pattie Gonia” will cause confusion or dilute Patagonia’s brand. The second is whether “Pattie Gonia” will be eligible for trademark registration.
“You don’t need evidence of actual confusion; the test is the probability of confusion,” Mertzel said. “The question is, will anyone think that Patagonia supports, sponsors or endorses Pattie’s products and services?”
This article was first published on: New York Times.
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