Clothing company ordered to pay $850K to Buc-ee’s for having a logo that is too similar
Por Graig Graziosi — – World RSS Feed
Clothing company ordered to pay $850K to Buc-ee’s for having a logo that is too similar
Born United has been ordered to stop selling the merchandise featuring the Buc-ee’s logo and destroy all of its merchandise depicting the mascot
Graig Graziosi in Washington, D.C. Thursday 10 September 2026 18:53 BST
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A South Carolina-based clothing company has been ordered to pay rest stop giant Buc-ee’s $850,000 to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit.
Buc-ee’s sued Born United, a clothing company selling merchandise that vaguely gestures to the American right, with bathing suits sporting rubber ducks in tactical gear and shirts with slogans like “Lift Hard Trust God.”
In its lawsuit, Buc-ee’s claimed that the company used its famous beaver logo mascot in its merchandise.
The Buc-ee’s logo is a beaver with a red baseball cap and big buck teeth, looking up and to the right. Born United sold a patch, titled the “Tac-Bucc,” that features a beaver that looks nearly identical to the Buc-ee’s logo — big buck teeth, looking in the same direction, same eyes, same nose, same heart-shaped tongue — but decked out in military fatigues and tactical gear and holding a rifle.
Born United has stores in North Charleston, Summerville, and Myrtle Beach, according to the Charleston-based Post and Courier.
open image in gallerySouth Carolina state Senator Tom Fernandez, a Republican, is a part-owner of the Myrtle Beach location. He was not cited in the complaint, but he did defend the design on social media.
He claimed the logo was a “parody” and was different enough to be protected under fair use.
“It’s not the Buc-ee’s logo. It’s creative. It’s different. And it’s protected,” he wrote on Facebook last year after Buc-ee’s introduced the lawsuit.
He claimed at the time that Buc-ee’s knows “that they’ll lose this case.”
“They’re just trying to bully Born United,” he wrote.
U.S. District Court Judge David Norton ultimately found that the beaver logo was synonymous with Buc-ee’s brand and was protected by both common law and federal trademark protections.
In a settlement order, Born United was ordered by a judge to permanently stop using the Buc-ee’s logo or any “confusingly similar” mascot in its products. The company also had to admit that it sold merchandise featuring the logo and acknowledge that it had prior knowledge of the Buc-ee’s trademarks.
The company must also destroy all of its products bearing the logo and take down any advertisements featuring the mascot, as well as pay Buc-ee’s $850,000.
The court also ruled that if Born United violates the terms of the judgment, it will also be liable to pay Buc-ee’s and cover attorney fees. Both parties have waived their rights to appeal.
As of September 8, Born United’s website and its stores no longer carry the Buc-ee’s merchandise. Other merchandise with similar militaristic twists on known characters — such as those depicting Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear holding guns — have also been removed from the website, according to the Post and Courier.
open image in galleryBuc-ee’s isn’t shy about suing those it believes have appropriated its logo. The company recently sued a small mini-mart in Ohio that uses a cartoon beaver — one which has few similarities to Buc-ee’s logo — called Beaver’s Mini Mart. That lawsuit stirred up ire among the residents of Beavercreek, Ohio, who called for boycotts of the gas station giant until they drop the lawsuit.
Buc-ee’s has been so litigious with its trademark that John Oliver included the company’s lawsuits in a “Last Week Tonight” segment. During the segment, Oliver taunted Buc-ee’s by creating his own beaver logo, daring the company to sue him and HBO over the image.
He did, however, note that Buc-ee’s might have a legitimate gripe with Born United, flashing its Buc-ee’s patch on the screen.
“To be fair, with some, you can kind of see why they were mad,” Oliver said, referring to the patch. “For instance, Buc-ee’s sued a clothing company for selling these shirts of what sure looks like their beaver holding a machine gun.”
The Independent has requested comment from Buc-ee’s.
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