BEAVERCREEK — It’s the beaver brand battle that caught the nation’s attention last month.
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Buc-ee’s is suing Beaver’s Mini Mart over trademark infringement.
As of now, the mini mart still has not responded to that lawsuit in court.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s getting out of hand,” Darby Salyers said.
That’s the reaction many in the Miami Valley had after Buc-ee’s filed the lawsuit.
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“The law does sometimes tend to favor the big guy against the little guy, and I think this is one of those cases,” Eric Estadt with Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP said.
Estadt is an intellectual property attorney.
“There’s so much value in their trademark rights that they would be committing malpractice to not try defending them,” Estadt said.
He said when it comes to trademark infringement, it’s up to companies to protect themselves.
If they don’t, it could weaken their trademark argument in the future.
“Essentially, the defendant goes to court and says, ‘Well, you didn’t do anything against all these other people, so why are you doing something against me?’” Estadt said.
The court issued a summons giving the mini mart 21 days to respond to Buc-ee’s lawsuit.
If not, a default judgment could be entered against them.
The response was due Aug. 20. Buc-ee’s has not yet asked the judge to issue a default judgment.
“I think ultimately at the end of the day these parties are not going to go to court. Most cases don’t go to court. Maybe something will get filed, but they’re going to be settled really quickly before anything gets anywhere near trial. I think this is very likely to be one of those instances,” Estadt said.
News Center 7 has reached out to both the owner of the mini mart and Buc-ee’s about the latest on the lawsuit.
We will update if we hear back.
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