Patagonia Accuses Pattie Gonia Of Creating ‘confused Customers”
Patagonia’s lawsuit said Pattie Gonia’s attempt to trademark the drag name, which would protect the right to use the Pattie Gonia brand in merchandising and environmental activism, places the performer in direct competition with the company. Patagonia alleged Pattie Gonia’s trademark application “appropriates” the Patagonia brand and “has already confused consumers, and will continue to confuse consumers” over whether the company and the drag queen are related. According to Patagonia’s complaint, the company “repeatedly” communicated with Pattie Gonia and reached an agreement with the performer in 2022 to not sell any Pattie Gonia-branded merchandise or to use fonts or designs that are “substantially similar” to Patagonia’s logos. Patagonia alleged Pattie Gonia violated the agreement by selling merchandise, and the complaint includes email correspondence between the parties in 2025, in which the company reminded the drag queen their agreement prohibits the commercialization of the Pattie Gonia name. Patagonia’s lawsuit notes it “must protect its iconic trademarks, even when it supports or agrees with Pattie Gonia’s views, message, or objectives.”
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Pattie Gonia Disputes Backing Out Of Deal
Pattie Gonia, in an Instagram post last week, disputed that she had ever agreed to not sell Pattie Gonia-branded merchandise. “In 2022, when I was collaborating with a third party, Patagonia asked me to follow certain terms, and I did,” Pattie Gonia said, adding it was not a “broad agreement about my future.” The performer also denied filing a trademark application to compete with Patagonia. Pattie Gonia also accused Patagonia of choosing “this exact moment, the height of anti-LGBTQ+ politics and attacks on the environment,” to file a lawsuit. Pattie Gonia first responded to the lawsuit in a post on Instagram last week, accusing the company of “trying to erase an activist” and betraying its mission of saving the environment, noting the Patagonia region in South America predates both the company and drag queen by centuries. Pattie Gonia denied having used the Patagonia logo in merchandise, saying the lawsuit “cherry-picks a few examples of playful parody and fan art,” also noting drag is “built on parody, puns and jokes.”
Surprising Fact
Patagonia is suing Pattie Gonia for just $1, plus legal fees. Pattie Gonia said on Instagram the lawsuit effectively threatens to “take away my name permanently and threaten me with more than $1M” in legal fees.
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Key Background
Patagonia has long been considered a socially progressive company for its environmental activism, donating millions to environmental groups and suing President Donald Trump in 2017 for shrinking federal lands protections. The company has also previously partnered with the Human Rights Campaign to oppose state legislation targeting LGBTQ rights. Pattie Gonia, who has 1.8 million Instagram followers, created the drag persona in 2018, and claims to have raised $3.7 million for environmental causes, including $1 million raised last year on a 100-mile hike.
Further Reading
Why drag queen Pattie Gonia is werking from the mountaintops (The Washington Post)
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