Our most litigious roadside attraction is at it again.
The beloved Texas Buc-ee’s Beaver is making its way into Chiefs Kingdom, but recent court filings show it’s trying to own the convenience store lane. This week, the beaver took a legal swing at a rival duck mascot for a rival Kansas City company, Duckees.
Buc-ee’s argues that the duck-centric competitor is infringing on the beaver’s copyright and trademark rights, using a logo with similar features. Both company logos center around a smiling animal – a beaver and a duck – with a yellow circle with a black border behind it.
“On information and belief, Duckees is using the DUCKEES’ Word Trademark and DUCKEES’ logo with full knowledge of Buc-ee’s rights, and in bad faith and with willful, malicious and deliberate intent to trade on Buc-ee’s substantial recognition, reputation, and goodwill,” the claims against Duckees reads.
Essentially, Buc-ee’s has a trademark to sell everything you could imagine finding at one of its locations using its branding. The company filed the trademarks to sell things like branded clothing, cups and food at retail convenience stores back in 2011. However, there’s an argument to be made on behalf of Duckees which operates as a drive-thru liquor store and food stop.
Buc-ee’s, though, says it’s a clear attempt to piggyback on the company’s longstanding reputation and fame. It’s also not just the logo. Buc-ee’s lawyers argue the name itself, Duckees, is too similar to Texas-based brand’s name and will confuse buyers in the marketplace.
In the end, Buc-ee’s is asking the Western District Court of Missouri to rule in their favor, preventing Duckees from using their name or their logo. Plus, they want Duckees to be required to destroy all merchandise, including products, packaging, ads and signs, which display the current name and logo.
The story notes that this lawsuit comes on the heels of Buc-ee’s arrival in the midwest – it’s been going national for about five years now – and that while their destination for Missouri is Kansas City, the target of their lawsuit is in a smaller town over 200 miles away. Buc-ee’s has a long history of filing trademark lawsuits, with considerable success. I don’t know how I feel about this case, but I wouldn’t bet against the beaver.
I don’t stop at Buc’ees or buy furniture or mattresses at Gallery Furniture, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, or Home Depot. I wonder why all the so-called progressives support the people who give a ton of money to the MAGA party. I would never buy a Tesla, go to a Rockets game, or visit any of the restaurants that the Rockets’ owner owns.
mi dos centavos
No more Buc-ees for me. Everything in the store now has that hideous beaver image on it, almost every product sold is re-branded to reflect their name and hideous image, etc. No longer a Texas thang, now they’re everywhere.
Hard pass going forward.
This suit is far more plausible than the first one. IIRC the only common denominator was a yellow circle.