After months of silence about Patagonia’s lawsuit, the celebrity known as “Pattie Gonia” has finally responded: “I am afraid and I’m frustrated.”
Wyn Wiley — an activist, drag queen, and social media influencer known as “Pattie Gonia” — was sued by Patagonia in January. The federal suit accused Wiley of trademark violations for selling merchandise using the name and for seeking her own trademark of the moniker. The company later said that Wiley’s “near-copy of our name” would “pose long-term threats to Patagonia’s brand and our activism.”
Wiley has now filed court documents denying those allegations. On Wednesday, she asked her many followers (including 1.7 million on Instagram alone) to support her call to end Patagonia’s lawsuit.
“This is not a brand conflict. This is a corporation trying to erase an activist,” Wiley wrote on Instagram. “So I’m fighting, and I’m inviting you to join me in a simple call to action: Patagonia, drop the lawsuit.”
Lawsuit Details
Unlike many similar lawsuits, Patagonia doesn’t seek damages for Wiley’s years-long use of the moniker. For Wiley’s alleged trademark violations, Patagonia requests just $1 and “an award of attorneys’ fees.”
In this case, however, those legal fees would surpass $1 million, Wiley said: “This would take away not only my activism and my career, but also the livelihoods of the team I employ.”
In its lawsuit, however, Patagonia denies trying to end Wiley’s work as an activist. The company claims that it reached an agreement with Wiley in 2022 to allow her use of the moniker “Pattie Gonia” as an activist, but limit its use as a brand. (Wiley has denied claims of any such agreement.) Patagonia’s examples of overusing the name commercially included: Wiley’s online merch store, partnerships with brands like Hydro Flask, and filing for a trademark application of “Pattie Gonia.”
“Before Pattie Gonia’s activities and identity transformed into a commercial enterprise, Patagonia repeatedly communicated with Pattie Gonia and understood that the parties had reached agreement about how that advocacy work might continue in a way that would not interfere with Patagonia’s brand,” the company wrote in the January lawsuit.
In an answer to Patagonia’s accusations, Wiley’s legal team has demanded a jury trial. Among many defenses, Wiley’s lawyers claim that “one or more” of Patagonia’s trademarks are not distinctive or famous, and there is “no likelihood of confusion” with Wiley’s moniker as a drag queen.
“I have never used their logo, font or anything from their brand on our merch website,” Wiley said in a statement. “Instead, the lawsuit cherry-picks a few examples of playful parody and fan art and tries to spin those into some kind of vast use of their logo. Drag is built on parody, puns and jokes. I’m willing to never parody their logo ever again.”
As for her attempted trademark of “Pattie Gonia,” Wiley said she filed the application after seeing what happened to a fellow drag queen. Cody Barnes, made famous on RuPaul’s Drag Race as “Lexi Love,” is also in a legal dispute with an adult film actress who used the same moniker.
“Within weeks her bookings cancelled, music pulled, social media gone,” Wiley said of Barnes. “I filed to make sure that that never happened to me.”
‘Let’s Make Peace’
Wiley also published an “open letter” to Patagonia Inc. on her website on Wednesday, directly asking the company’s board of directors to change course. The letter also directly addresses Yvon Chouinard, who founded Patagonia and reformed the company in 2022 to focus on climate change and environmental work.
“If your executives and lawyers continue to pursue this lawsuit, it will make one thing clear: They are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to grind me down so far that I can’t continue to operate,” Wiley wrote.
“Patagonia says it’s in business to save our home planet. And Mr. Chouinard, you said, ‘You are what you do, not what you say you are.’ This lawsuit serves no good purpose. Let’s make peace and get back to our common love of the planet, including our namesake region in South America named Patagonia.”
In a response to GearJunkie requests for comment, a Patagonia spokesperson said company representatives had “tried to find a path forward that would allow Pattie Gonia to continue their work while also protecting the Patagonia trademark,” but couldn’t reach an agreement with Wiley.
“This matter is not about seeking financial gain, nor is it about challenging anyone’s identity or right to advocacy, protest, or creative expression,” the spokesperson said. “The last thing we wanted was a legal fight with someone who shares our values, but we must protect our business and employees.”
Wiley has never responded to GearJunkie requests for an interview and declined to answer questions for this story.
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