Buc-ee’s, the Texas-based travel center chain known for its mall-sized stores, barbecue and beaver merchandise, is suing a small convenience store in Georgia for alleged brand infringement.
In a trademark lawsuit filed on May 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Buc-ee’s alleges that Teddy’s Market, a convenience store with two locations in the state, copied both its mascot and branding strategies.
According to court records obtained by USA TODAY, Buc-ee’s says that Teddy’s built its brand around a smiling cartoon animal, similar to its own beaver.
Buc-ee’s also alleged that Teddy’s cartoon animal mascot, similar to their beaver, had white eye highlights, a black nose, a hint of pink tongue and lighter coloring around its mouth, set inside a red-accented geometric shape.
Apart from a similar look, Buc-ee’s alleges that the two names are too similar.
According to court records, “Buc-ee’s” and “Teddy’s” are two-syllable, six-letter possessives ending in an “eez” sound, something the gas station chain’s lawyers alleged “is likely to cause (to the extent it has not already caused) confusion, mistake, and/or deception among consumers in the relevant market as to the source, affiliation, and/or origin of Teddy’s goods and services.”
What is Buc-ees asking for?
According to the complaint, Buc-ee’s is asking the court to force Teddy’s to stop using its current branding, destroy any infringing materials and hand over profits made by the branding.
Apart from this, Buc-ee’s is also asking Teddy’s to pay three times the profits made in damages and for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reject the four trademark applications the Georgia-based company made in May 2024.
Karan Ahuja, Teddy’s owner and operator, told CBS News Atlanta he disagrees with the allegations made in the lawsuit and declined further comment due to the pending litigation. As of May 6, online court records do not show a legal representative for Teddy’s Market.
Previous Buc-ee’s lawsuits
This is not the first time Buc-ee’s has sued a company over allegedly copying its famous beaver mascot and overall branding.
In February, Buc-ee’s sued Coles IP Holdings, LLC, which owns the Ohio convenience store and gas station chain Mickey Mart, over alleged trademark infringement and unfair competition. According to its website, Mickey Mart, which has roughly 42 locations in Ohio, features a smiling cartoon moose within a red hexagon as its logo. In Buc-ee’s complaint, the chain argues that the animalistic logo is too similar to its own – a toothy beaver wearing a red ballcap inside a bright yellow circle. Both animals are facing right and display wide eyes and a smile, Buc-ee’s says in court documents.
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