Patagonia filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against climate activist Pattie Gonia in January of 2026.
Outdoor apparel brand Patagonia announced in late January that it had filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against climate activist Pattie Gonia. Just over four months later, the legal tussle is beginning to play out in the court of public opinion after both sides are now addressing the suit.
Patagonia’s announcement of the lawsuit came on January 21, 2026, with the brand sharing that it had decided to pursue legal action after first attempting to settle potential conflicts for three years. According to them, an agreement had been reached that would allow the social media personality who’s raised millions of dollars for climate protection to continue doing so under the clever performer name.
“For a while, it worked,” the company said in the January statement.
That changed in late 2024 when the activist began selling “Pattie Gonia” branded merchandise and using versions of the brand’s logo.
“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. These are not hypothetical examples; they are real instances of past trademark infringements we successfully stopped only because we have been consistent in defending our rights,” Patagonia said.
Pattie Gonia addressed the suit publicly for the first time in May, stating “This is a betrayal of Patagonia’s core mission. Because if they are ‘in business to save the home planet,’ why are they suing a climate activist?” Pattie Gonia went on to acknowledge that even though Patagonia is only suing for $1, “in the end, I had two choices: 1. the erasure of my name, the advocacy, my community, and everyone I employ or 2. Fight for myself and fight for us.”
View this post on Instagram
Sure enough, Pattie Gonia’s first public remarks on the dispute brought a new response from Patagonia, which shared its own updated statement on Monday.
“We wish this lawsuit had not been necessary, and we want to acknowledge any hurt it has caused, especially in the LGBTQ+ community. We don’t want to argue trademark law on social media. Importantly, we continue to want to resolve this,” a statement reads. Patagonia listed three bullet-pointed demands for the activist and a public acknowledgment that “we can work out everything else”:
-Withdraw all trademark applications
-Stop using (Patagonia) logos
– Stop selling and promoting apparel and other products as Pattie Gonia
Pattie Gonia’s response? Shortly after the company’s statement, the performer said that points one and two have already been agreed to. Point three, on the other hand — Stop selling and promoting apparel and other products as Pattie Gonia — sounds like a hard no.
“Patagonia is not just talking about my upcycled t-shirt merch in that bullet point. They’re talking about the partnership work with other brands that I’ve done for years to pay for education, advocacy, and activism that me and my team do,” a statement reads. “If I can’t do partnerships as Pattie Gonia, it breaks the whole ecosystem of advocacy and community engagement. And they understand this because their work is built on the same model — advocacy work funded through commercial work.”
