Oh my fucking god yāall bootlickers are driving me crazy.
Iām a law student specializing in Intellectual Property, which includes Copyright and Trademark. Iāve studied these subjects and the law is clear that everything yāall said about Patagonia ālosing the trademarkā if they donāt sue Ms. Pattie is absolute bullshit.
Trademarks are only lost if they are abandoned by the user or if the product made by the company becomes so ubiquitous, everyday, and common that people start calling all types of that product by the trademark name. This is called genericide, because the trademark has become so generic, it is no longer an indicator of one singular source. Think Band-Aid or Thermos; we use those terms to refer to the generic products theyāre associated with. We call pretty much all sticky bandages Band-Aids and all containers used to keep things warm in Thermoses.
What Patagonia is doing is actually closer to suing for trademark infringement based on tarnishment, which means the infringer is using the trademark name in a way that makes the company look bad or associates the company with things like drugs or pornography. Queen Pattie Gonia is someone who raises awareness for climate and environmental activism. Nothing about Miss Goniaās use of the name tarnishes Patagoniaās brand.
The only possible argument the company has is that Miss Goniaās queer identity could be seen as not āadult-friendlyā but that very quickly slides into homophobic and moralistic territory that will absolutely be shot down by the court based on First Amendment rights. People are allowed to use ānot safe for work names,ā based on caselaw that states that ālabels that are disparaging or morally offensiveā are a violation of free speech because itās peopleās choice to say and use those names. For example, an all-Asian band applied for the trademark name āThe Chinksā because they were taking the racially disparaging name and reclaiming it. The Trademark Office attempted to refuse to grant the bandās trademark, and when the band sued, the Supreme Court sided with the band.
That got off on a little bit of a tangent, but the long and short of it is this: Patagonia has absolutely no basis for a trademark name. Any IP lawyer would say the same. The reason Patagonia is getting away with a frivolous suit like this is because they know their target is a member of a vulnerable minority. Miss Gonia is 100% correct that they are trying to bully her because they know she doesnāt have the money to withstand a years-long expensive lawsuit.
Itās because of idiotic bootlickers who kiss companiesā asses like this that big corporations can get away with hurting independent creators. Patagonia does not have any chance at winning, but they know that just by filing and announcing their lawsuit against Miss Gonia, they are putting pressure on her to give up. If this lawsuit goes on, even if it doesnāt make it to court and just goes to a judge for a quick summary judgment, Miss Gonia would still have to pay for a lawyer to defend her and lawyers cost more money than the average person has. Miss Gonia would win, but because Patagonia set the damages for $1, even if she did win, sheād still end up in debt because in America, the typical rule is that each party pays for the cost of their own attorneyās fees. The only time the opposing side would pay your lawyerās fees is if you have a contract with them that says so, and thatās usually only used in contracts between businesses or high profile individuals.
What Patagonia is doing is capitalizing on societyās hatred for queer people and anyone resembling a trans woman. Miss Gonia is a drag queen, not trans as far as Iām aware (though please do correct me if Iām wrong) but itās not like a big company cares to differentiate; theyāre just mad that a queer person is using their name in a way they donāt like. Patagonia knows that this particular population has been facing harsh discrimination in society currently. By siding with them, people are actively harming the queer community. Donāt pretend to hide behind trademark law to cover up your prejudices.
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