The clothing brand Patagonia has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against drag queen and activist Pattie Gonia for the creation of branded apparel that allegedly uses versions of the Patagonia logo.

Pattie Gonia, a drag queen who hails from Nebraska, has a long history of intersectional activism, with a heavy focus on climate action. In 2024, she was recognised by Out Magazine as she made their list of top LGBTQ+ changemakers.

Additionally, last December, Pattie completed an extraordinary 100-mile hike along the Californian coast, raising more than $1.1 million for organisations working to make the outdoors more inclusive.

In a statement published on their company’s website, Patagonia said that they have “actively engaged” with Pattie Gonia for many years, and while they did not want to take legal action, they said a lawsuit has now “become necessary to protect the brand we have spent 50 years building”.

“For more than three years, Patagonia engaged in open dialogue with Pattie Gonia to discuss ways she could continue her environmental and social advocacy, brand deals, and other work without infringing on our trademarks,” the statement read. “We thought we’d reached an agreement and, for a while, it worked.”

The statement went on to say that their outreach team contacted Pattie in late 2024 with an agreement over merchandise that contained “versions” of the Patagonia logo. However, the clothing company said Pattie refused to stick to this agreement, while a subsequent note “to discuss potential ways forward got no response”.

The statement continued: “Then in September of 2025, Pattie Gonia filed a trademark application seeking the exclusive rights to use the brand ‘Pattie Gonia’ to sell clothing and apparel, promote environmental activism, engage in online marketing and endorsements, and more.

“These rights would directly overlap with the work we do and the products we provide – for which we have longstanding rights and trademark registrations.”

They added: “To maintain our own rights, we must prevent others from copying our brands and logos. If we do not, we risk losing the ability to defend our trademarks entirely. To put a finer point on it, we cannot selectively choose to enforce our rights based on whether we agree with a particular point of view. Inconsistent enforcement might prevent us from stopping entities like the oil and gas lobby, counterfeiters, hate groups, or other bad actors from using the Patagonia name and logo.”