I care about intellectual property, copyright regulation, and the right of people to protect their marks. Usually.
Right now, though, I have no patience for the many lefty/liberal influencers who are explaining to us--voices full of tension or through gritted teeth--why were are supposed to side with powerful outdoor brand Patagonia over drag queen and environmental activist Pattie Gonia.
The thing is, I just don't care about their "reasonable" liberal arguments.
First of all, there's no reason to assume that a lawsuit was Patagonia's only course of action. It's true that if a brand does not protect itself against trademark violations, even those done by someone they like, they will be in a weaker position to go after violators who they do NOT like, or even those sending a message counter to their brand.
However, companies can make brand deals with creators; there is even a whole subcategory of contracts known as creator contracts or creator agreements for influencer brand deals. While these were not built for this situation, I'm sure that Patagonia's lawyers could have worked out something with Pattie Gonia to both protect their mark and avoid interfering with Pattie Gonia's work. Furthermore, a lot of people are pointing to the fan-created logo as the main trademark violation...but in that case, who is the violator? If they were going to sue someone, shouldn't it be the fan? It is, at least, a question that requires some additional exploration.
But I honestly don't care about any of this. Really, the main thing is that we are living in a hellscape where the rule of law has crumbled into dust. The ruling class is openly engaged in theft, fraud, sexual abuse, and corruption, to say nothing of environmental destruction, genocide and other war crimes. It is devastating.
The main argument for why Patagonia "had to" sue Pattie Gonia is the notion that the law must be applied equally--some defenders of Patagonia say that if this use went unanswered, Patagonia would not be able to sue an oil company or a weapons manufacturer that violated their trademark down the line. The argument goes: legally, we have to treat the drag queen and the weapons manufacturer the same.
No. Every single day, we see that the law is NOT applied equally in this country. Is that a reason to give up on the rule of law altogether? No, I still believe in fighting for that. But it does make me fine with saying "Not this time, Patagonia. Drop the lawsuit."