If you have ever driven down I-95 toward Daytona Beach or St. Augustine (or in much of the southeast or practically anywhere in Texas), chances are good that you have seen signs advertising Buc-ee’s gas station/country store. If you have seen those signs or visited a Buc-ee’s location, you have definitely gotten a look at their mascot – a smiling beaver in a red baseball cap against a yellow background – because it is ubiquitous in their marketing.

You will find the Buc-ee’s Beaver not only on signs, but also on almost all of the chain’s branded merchandise, including clothing, food items, toys, and more. They even have statues of the Buc-ee’s Beaver at some locations, and the beaver has been known to make appearances from time to time, a la characters at Disney World.

In other words, the Buc-ee’s Beaver is an integral part of their brand. Over the past decade or so, as Buc-ee’s has become increasingly successful, the company has come down hard on anyone they see as infringing on their trademark. Since 2013, they have filed lawsuits against numerous businesses, including but not limited to:

B&B Grocery – For featuring a logo with a cartoon beaver against a yellow background.

Choke Canyon BBQ – For featuring a logo with a cartoon alligator against a yellow background. 

Duckee’s Drive Thru – For mimicking both Buc-ee’s name and logo with a cartoon duck against a yellow background.

So it is perhaps not surprising that in January the business filed yet another suit – this time against North Texas-based gas station Super Fuels. Buc-ee’s claim is that the gas station’s cartoon logo – a brown dog wearing a red cap against a blue background – is “likely to cause confusion among consumers in the relevant market.”

Are a Dog and a Beaver Really That Similar?

Hearing about this case, that might be your first question: how can Buc-ee’s realistically argue that their iconic beaver on a yellow background will be confused with a cape-wearing dog on a blue background? It is a fair thing to wonder. However, similar issues were raised when Buc-ee’s filed their suit against Choke Canyon BBQ for their alligator logo, and Bucee’s ended up winning that case.

The gas and country store behemoth has several things going for it:

Brand recognition. While many of these other businesses are just finding their footing, Buc-ee’s is a veritable giant, with gobs of brand recognition related to their beaver logo due to how aggressively they have promoted it.

Potential confusion based on a lack of consumer attention. This one is interesting, so I am going to share the quote from Buc-ee’s lawyers:

“The vast majority of consumers encountering the infringing marks will consist of drivers who are actively operating motor vehicles and are thus incapable of providing anything beyond a brief glance at the infringing marks, which are displayed on the front facade of defendants’ stores and on defendants’ gas station canopies.”

In other words, the nature of both Buc-ee’s and Super Fuels’ business models is that people essentially see them out of the corner of their eyes while driving and have to make a split-second decision regarding whether to stop or not. This type of situation means that even a moderate level of similarity could lead to consumer confusion.

Dilution. While Buc-ee’s says nothing about this in their suit, dilution may very well be a stronger argument than consumer confusion in getting Super Fuels to stop using their logo. Essentially, the Federal Trademark Dilution Act says that if you own a well-known trademark, you have the ability to stop another from utilizing a similar mark if it is found that the mark in question could weaken the uniqueness of your trademark. Perhaps even more importantly, this applies regardless of whether you are able to show consumer confusion or financial harm.

Does This Mean Buc-ee’s Is Bound to Win?

Not necessarily. Every case must be judged on its own merits, and this one has barely begun. Plus, even though Buc-ee’s has been particularly aggressive in their litigation over the past decade or so, they have not won every single one of those cases.

That being said, this string of trademark infringement lawsuits by Buc-ee’s is particularly interesting for how they are going after logos with even a passing similarity to theirs – and often winning or reaching a settlement. What does it mean for other businesses if they have to take care to avoid creating anything even close to what others are doing? How far will this go?

Needless to say, I will be paying close attention to how this case proceeds and what the ultimate decision is.