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Bryan Sullivan Speaks to Law360 on Patagonia’s Ongoing Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Drag Queen Pattie Gonia
Bryan Sullivan recently spoke with Law360 about American retailer Patagonia suing drag queen and activist Pattie Gonia, who filed a trademark application to use their full drag name for the purposes of selling merchandise. The article, titled “Is Pattie Gonna Get Out Of This? Patagonia’s IP And PR Pickle,” outlines that while Patagonia supports Pattie Gonia’s advocacy for issues like environmentalism and LGBTQ+ rights, the brand maintains that the drag name could confuse consumers and interfere with the Patagonia brand.
The trademark infringement suit has gained public interest from both intellectual property and popular culture standpoints. While this may cause PR headaches, trademark attorneys agree that IP enforcement and public relations management will not always be in perfect alignment.
Bryan sheds light on why the enforcement pressure in trademark law may not be obvious to the general public.
“Nonlawyers and nontrademark people would probably jump in and accuse Patagonia of being a bully, but [the company is] obligated to enforce their trademark,” Bryan tells Law360.
He goes on to explain that if Patagonia decides not to enforce its trademark, it could raise the risk of arguments of selective enforcement.
“If there are too many instances of them not enforcing the trademark, there are arguments against them if they try to enforce it. It can’t be selective enforcement,” he concludes.