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Patagonia, the outdoor apparel company, is suing Pattie Gonia, the drag queen and environmentalist, for trademark infringementa move the company says is necessary to protect the brand [it has] spent the last 50 years building. In a lawsuit filed in California federal court this week, Patagonia argues that Pattie Gonias name, particularly when used on apparel or in support of environmental sustainability, competes directly with the products and advocacy work that are core to Patagonia. Patagonia claims in its complaint that the overlapping names have already confused customers, and that a recent move from the drag queen to sell her own branded apparel goes against a prior agreement the two parties had. The company is seeking a nominal $1 in damages. Were not against art, creative expression, or commentary about our brand, Patagonia says in a statement. We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on issues that matterbut in a way that respects Patagonias intellectual property and ability to use our brand to sell products and advocate for the environment. Overlapping work According to the lawsuit, the company and the environmentalist have long openly discussed how Pattie Gonia can continue her advocacy work and brand deals without infringing on Patagonias trademarks. Pattie Gonia reportedly previously agreed to not use her name in any form on products, to not use or display Patagonias logos, and to not use the same font, Belwe, that Patagonia uses. But according to Patagonia, in 2024, Pattie Gonia sold branded apparel online and used versions of the company logo. And then in September 2025, she sought to trademark the brand Pattie Gonia for use on clothing and apparel, and to promote environmental activism. These rights would directly overlap with the work we do and the products we provide, the company said. The lawsuit cites T-shirts sold on Pattie Gonias website that say Pattie Gonia Hiking Club, along with stickers and gloves worn by the drag queen that seem to imitate Patagonias logo. At the time of publication, Pattie Gonias merch page showed her apparel as being sold out. Pattie Gonia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Patagonia says it can’t “selectively choose” to enforce its trademark Members of the public have already been confused as to whether or not Pattie Gonia is affiliated with Patagonia, the company claims. The lawsuit includes screenshots of a Pattie Gonia social media post on which commenters praised the company and even said they “genuinely thought this was a Patagonia ad. While Pattie Gonia has partnered with outdoor groups and brandsincluding The North Face, National Geographic, REI, and Backcountry, according to her websiteshe has not officially partnered with Patagonia. (The company has featured Pattie Gonia and her nonprofit, The Outdoorist Oath, in an interview on the Patagonia site.) If the company doesnt prevent people or groups, including Pattie Gonia, from copying its brand and logo, it says, then it risks losing the ability to defend our trademarks entirely. Other groups, including the oil and gas lobby, have already misappropriated Patagonias name and logo. The lawsuit cites a T-shirt, for example, emblazoned with “Petrogonia in the Patagonia font, against a silhouette of oil drilling equipment that mimics the companys mountain silhouette. To put a finer point on it, we cannot selectively choose to enforce our rights based on whether we agree with a particular point of view, the company says. For these reasons, Pattie Gonias use of a near-copy of our name commercially . . . poses long-term threats to Patagonias brand and our activism. While Pattie Gonia did not immediately respond to a request for comment, she and her business said in a statement to Bloomberg Law that they have never and will never reference the brand Patagonias logo or brand, adding that there was plenty of room for both the company and the drag queen to play in this box.
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E-Commerce
Everyone is talking about it in group chats, at the supermarket, and at the gas pump. No, it’s not Heated Rivalryit is the “monster” winter storm that is set to hit the U.S. this weekend, traveling from Texas across the Southwest, into the Southeast, and finally into the Mid-Atlantic states and into New England. The storm is forecast to dump a whopping ten to 20 inches of snow, creating dangerous conditions for about half the nation, according to the Washington Post. Widespread heavy snow, sleet, damaging ice, and a potential nor’easter could affect as many as 230 million Americans from Friday, January 23 to Monday, January 26, bringing temperatures below zero, according to the Weather Channel. While it’s too early to predict the storm’s exact path and snowfall, heavy snow is forecast for Memphis, Nashville, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City, and Boston. How to prepare for the winter storm The weather could create dangerous travel conditions, both on the roads and in the air, and has the potential for power outages amid freezing temperatures. Here are some tips from the National Weather Service (NWS) on what you can do to prepare before the storm: Make an emergency supply kit with things like a first aid kit, flashlight, cell phone charger, batteries, food and water, gloves, hates, boots and warm winter clothing For your car: Get a full tank of gas, snow shovel and brush, blankets, and jumper cables In case your heat goes out, here’s what to do, according to the NWS: Wear layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing. Remove layers to avoid overheating, perspiration, and subsequent chill Close off unneeded rooms to avoid wasting heat Stuff towels or rags in cracks under doors Close blinds or curtains to keep in some heat Do not run a generator inside your home or garage The National Weather Service says food provides the body with energy for producing its own heat, so eat and drink lots of water and other non-caffeinated, non-alcholohic drinks to prevent dehydration. Cold air is hydrating. Stay safe and warm out there!
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E-Commerce
One of the giants of the gaming business has tumbled off a cliff. Ubisoft, the French game publisher best known for the Assassin’s Creed series, just announced plans to dramatically reorganize its business. In the process, the company will kill six games it had in the works, including a long-awaited Prince of Persia title that was expected this month. Ubisoft shares dropped by more than 30% following the news. The game publisher said the changes are designed to make it more agile in order to drive a sharp rebound for the company, which has seen its stock tank over the last five years. To chart that course, Ubisoft said it will selectively close the game studios it operates in Halifax and Stockholm, while restructuring other studios based in Abu Dhabi, Malmö, and Helsinki. The company will consolidate its studios into five genre-specific creative houses that combine game production and publishing. The company described the desperate measures as a major reset to set itself on a path to sustainable growth. For the year, Ubisoft now expects net bookings of roughly $1.5 billion euros, down by $330 million from its previous guidance. It is a radical move, relying on a more decentralized creative organization with faster decision making and best-in-class cross functional core services supporting and serving each Creative House, Ubisoft Founder and CEO Yves Guillemo wrote in press release, emphasizing that the changes would provide deep cost reduction designed to rightsize the 17,000-person company. Beyond the now-axed remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which Ubisoft said did not meet its new enhanced quality criteria, the publisher will abandon four unannounced games, including three new IPs and a mobile title. A dramatic decline for a AAA heavyweight The changes afoot at Ubisoft demonstrate a stunning fall from grace for a company synonymous with the gaming industry. The French gaming giant publishes many hit titles beyond its long-running Assassin’s Creed franchise, including the Tom Clancy series, Far Cry, Rayman, Just Dance, and Watch Dogs. Ubisofts retreat symbolizes bigger shifts in the gaming industry, but also avoidable failures. The pandemic-era game industry boom times that saw many gamers holed up at home, desperate for entertainment are now over. Persistent inflation means gamers have less cash on hand to spend, particularly after the cost of many new releases jumped up to $70. Meanwhile, big AAA studios like Ubisoft are looking to trim back budgets as the cost of making games goes up. Many people working in the gaming industry are hanging onto their jobs by a thread in the face of mass layoffs, if they havent decamped for another field altogether. Ubisoft has also made many of its own missteps. The publisher was forced to face its own demons during the gaming industrys recent cultural reckoning, which revealed patterns of pervasive sexual harassment and workplace discrimination at some game companies. Last year, three former Ubisoft executives were found guilty of fostering a culture of psychological and sexual harassment by a French court. The French game maker has also suffered from a few high profile game failures, including the 2024 release of Star Wars Outlaws - a release Ubisoft expected to be a major money maker. That games problems cascaded into Ubisofts next major release, Assassins Creed Shadows, which the company delayed in light of the softer than expected reception for the prior game. Ubisofts role in shaping the gaming trends of the last decade is hard to overstate. At its best, the companys games are praised for their sprawling, meticulously-detailed open worlds. But after many releases and many iterations, that formula may have overstayed its welcome. The game publisher has faced widespread criticism in recent years for churning out cookie-cutter open world games bloated by too much filler content. Gamers have more choice than ever in 2026, and theyre not afraid to opt for innovative indie titles handcrafted by small teams over AAA stalwarts that are growing stale. On the one hand, the AAA industry has become persistently more selective and competitive with rising development costs and greater challenges in creating brands, Guillemo said in Ubisofts announcement. On the other hand, exceptional AAA games, when successful, have more financial potential than ever.
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E-Commerce
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