Protecting your intellectual property is extremely important. The value of your brand can be substantial, often exceeding the value of your physical inventory. Actively policing your intellectual property is equally important to prevent others from diluting your brand or damaging your reputation.
A trademark, for example, is a symbol, word, slogan or logo used to distinguish your brand or product from others. Some trademark infringement cases are extremely interesting – one came across my desk recently, and I had to share!
The case is Patagonia Inc v. Pattie Gonia Productions, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:26-cv-00586.
Patagonia, the well-known clothing company, is suing drag queen Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement, claiming that the phonetically identical name he/she uses plays on their own name and will cause customer confusion in the marketplace.
Patagonia focus on outdoor apparel, and the drag queen began selling infringing apparel with phrases including “Pattie Gonia Hiking Club,” which, according to Patagonia, falsely implies that Patagonia has endorsed or collaborated with the performer.
Cases like these highlight the need to continually protect your intellectual property. Your trademark is your signpost for your customers, and it should constantly be pointing them in the direction of your products and services only, ones that they have grown to love and trust. Unauthorized use of your trademarks causes confusion and weakens the honour of your brand. Quality control is hugely important.
Further, if you want to maintain the licensing power of your brand, it is very important to stop those using it without a license.
You should always discuss your intellectual property with a lawyer to help you register, maintain, licence and police it properly.
Vanessa DeDominicis is a Partner and a Registered Trademark Agent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Her business law practice has a specific focus on intellectual property law, including filing Canadian and US trademark applications and advising clients on infringement issues. This information applies as a general rule ONLY and may change depending upon the specific circumstances of your own situation. You should consult a lawyer before acting on any of this information. You can contact Vanessa on 250-869-1140 or [email protected]
