When Buc-ee’s Tracy Richardson says ‘See Ya Later, Alligator,’ he means it

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle By Mark Curriden 6/14/2019



Buc-ee’s Deputy General Counsel Tracy Richardson was told there was no way he could win a trademark infringement against competitor Choke Canyon.

Buc-ee’s co-founder Don Wasek provided Richardson a coffee cup featuring a grinning green alligator wearing a hat inside a yellow circle, which seemed far too similar to the famous Buc-ee’s beaver branding.

“Anything we can do?” Wasek asked.

Against the advice of intellectual property experts, Richardson filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit claiming that Choke Canyon was simply trying to confuse customers that their store had a connection to Buc-ee’s.

“I don’t think anybody gave me a chance of winning this case,” said Richardson, who recently won the 2019 Business Litigation of the Year Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook. “They probably knew that I knew nothing about federal trademark law.”

For seven-days last year, Richardson did battle in federal court in Houston. Expert witnesses testified. Owners of the two companies took the witness stand. Internal Choke Canyon documents were introduced as evidence. Even a couple customers of both stores swore under oath that they thought Choke Canyon, because of its logo and other marketing and product efforts, was part of Buc-ee’s.

“This case is not about an alligator versus a beaver,” Richardson told jurors. “It is about an intent to deceive and confuse. There are two dissimilarities and 12 similarities in the two logos.”

The jury ruled in favor of Buc-ee's. Choke Canyon conceded, paying Buc-ees a “couple million dollars.”

“Most importantly, they had to forfeit their logo and change their signs, which is all we wanted to begin with,” he said.

Very few corporate in-house counsel take cases to trial anymore. Buc-ee’s and Richardson are the exception.

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/texas-inc/article/When-Buc-ee-s-Tracy-Richardson-says-See-Ya-13975535.php

[Jazzhead]

I see no similarity whatsoever between the two logos,  other than the yellow circle surrounding the cartoon animal.   Just goes to show that taking a case to trial is a crapshoot.  Here, Buc-cees rolled the dice and won.