she\u2019s been using their trademark<\/a> \u2014 and after failed settlement talks, the case could go to trial next year.<\/p>\nThe prolific puffy coat maker filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in January against Gonia \u2014 a mustachioed LGBTQ and climate activist who adopted the drag persona after a 2018 trip to the South American region of Patagonia.<\/p>\n
Clothing brand Patagonia has been trying to reach an agreement with drag queen Pattie Gonia for years for allegedly using it\u2019s trademark, and now the case could be heading to trial. TikTok\/@pattiegonia<\/p>\n
The drag queen adopted the persona after taking a trip to the South American glacial region. Instagram\/@pattiegonia<\/p>\n
Patagonia has, until now, tried to show they were treating the case with kid gloves so as not to offend its customer base.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to acknowledge any hurt it has caused, especially in the LGBTQ+ community,\u201d the company said in a statement. <\/p>\n
The company claimed Gonia, whose real name is Wyn Wiley, broke their 2022 agreement to respect the brand when she applied in 2024 to trademark \u201cPattie Gonia\u201d \u2014 causing Patagonia \u201cirreparable harm,\u201d the suit alleged.<\/p>\n
Despite \u201cextensive settlement discussions,\u201d the two sides \u201cwere ultimately unable to reach a resolution,\u201d according to a federal filing submitted by both sides in the lawsuit Monday.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve agreed to head to trial in June 2027, though a date will need to be finalized by the judge.<\/p>\n
Pattie Gonia\u2019s real name is Wyn Wiley. Instagram\/@pattiegonia<\/p>\n
The clothing company claimed that in 2022 they let slide Gonia\u2019s environmental partnership with a water bottle company as long as the drag queen\u2019s name \u201cdid not appear on any products and didn\u2019t use Patagonia\u2019s logos\u201d \u2014 conditions she has since stopped following, court papers allege.<\/p>\n
Pattie Gonia started hawking merchandise \u2014 including clothes \u2014 and promoting products that compete with Patagonia. And she implied a false connection between the two \u201cby sending out thank you packages that included stickers of Patagonia\u2019s logo with Pattie Gonia branding superimposed on it,\u201d the papers claim.<\/p>\n
This has \u201cconfused\u201d customers, making it seem like the company sponsors the drag queen, they claim.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Gonia claims she trademarked the drag persona so it couldn\u2019t be \u201cstolen from her.\u201d <\/p>\n
And she dismissed Patagonia\u2019s concerns over customer confusion, saying in the court papers that, \u201cNo reasonable consumer is likely to confuse Patagonia\u2019s clothing brand with the limited merchandise offerings of a touring drag queen\/artist.\u201d <\/p>\n
Regardless, Gonia\u2019s performances and outfits are all protected satire under the First Amendment, she claimed.<\/p>\n
Patagonia said Pattie Gonia\u2019s merchandise is confusing for customers who might wrongly think the company sponsors the drag queen. VTT Studio \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
The drag queen said for years, the company has known about and signed off on her activities \u2014 even promoting her advocacy on Patagonia\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
If Gonia were to agree to Patagonia\u2019s terms \u2014 withdrawing the trademark application, no longer using the mountain landscape logo and no longer selling clothes and merch under the drag persona \u2014 this would make \u201cit impossible for [Gonia] to fund their advocacy and charitable work,\u201d she alleged in court papers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would effectively dismantle Wyn Wiley\u2019s beloved and famous drag persona along with a community of over 600 artists and advocates that have raised over $3.7 million for nonprofits,\u201d she alleged.<\/p>\n
Both sides have been unable to reach an agreement after Patagonia sued and have agreed on a trial in June 2027. The Washington Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n
If the two sides could agree on Patagonia\u2019s three terms, \u201cwe can work out everything else, and Pattie Gonia could continue as a performer and activist. We share common ground with them, including the goal of saving our home planet and creating a more inclusive outdoors,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n
In her own statements Sunday, Pattie Gonia said her 2022 deal with the company \u201cwasn\u2019t a broad agreement about my future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, she said she would agree to stop using the company\u2019s logo as a parody.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrag is built on parody, puns and jokes, but I\u2019m willing to never parody their logo ever again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a legal dispute that keeps dragging on. Bougie outdoor brand Patagonia has been trying for years to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2136,10584,3100,412,9,24,63,122,124,123,49029,58],"class_list":["post-254627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-california","tag-drag-queens","tag-lawsuit","tag-lgbtqia","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-trademarks","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}