There’s protecting your trademark, and then there’s…suing a business called Beaver’s Mini Mart in a city called Beavercreek.
The internet has been having a field day ever since Buc-ee’s filed a trademark lawsuit against the longtime neighborhood convenience store, arguing that Beaver’s Mini Mart’s smiling cartoon beaver logo is too similar to the famous Buc-ee’s mascot.
If you think that sounds like a plot line from an episode of Parks and Recreation, you’re not alone.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in late July, claims Beaver’s Mini Mart’s logo, color scheme, and branding could confuse customers into thinking the small Dayton-area shop is connected to the Texas travel center giant.
There’s just one problem with that argument, at least in the eyes of many Ohioans.
The store isn’t sitting off an interstate packed with gas pumps and brisket sandwiches. It’s a neighborhood mini mart that’s been part of Beavercreek for decades. Buc-ee’s, meanwhile, didn’t even open its first Ohio location until this spring in nearby Huber Heights.
Beavercreek has a long history of embracing, well…beavers.
The city’s name comes from Beaver Creek, and beaver mascots are everywhere, from local businesses to school athletics. The highschool mascot is literally called Buckey the Beaver. It’s less a branding strategy than a community identity.
So when news of the lawsuit broke, locals responded about how you’d expect.
Residents organized a “cash mob,” encouraging people to stop by Beaver’s Mini Mart and spend a few dollars to support the family-owned business. Nearby businesses joined in on the fun, too. Hot Head Burritos even joked on social media, “Apparently every local logo needs a beaver now.”
The support didn’t stop in Beavercreek.
Over in Upper Arlington, The Original Goodie Shop started selling special Beaver’s Mini Mart cookies, complete with the store’s logo and address. The bakery is donating $1 from every $3 cookie sold directly to the mini mart to help offset legal costs, after getting permission from the owners to recreate the logo. As the bakery joked in its announcement, they made sure to get permission first. “You know… copyright law and all.”
Buckeye Lake Brewery has also gotten involved, selling limited-edition Beaver’s Mini Mart T-shirts, with 100% of the profits going toward the store’s legal defense. The brewery called the trademark dispute a “superfluous lawsuit” and encouraged customers to wear their support.
The lawsuit news broke just days after HBO’s John Oliver spent part of an episode of Last Week Tonight roasting Buc-ee’s for its long history of aggressively defending its trademarks. Oliver even created parody merchandise featuring his show’s squirrel mascot in a logo reminiscent of Buc-ee’s and openly challenged the company to sue him.
But they didn’t take Oliver’s bait. The lawsuit landed in Beavercreek instead.
To be fair, companies are expected to defend their trademarks or risk weakening them over time. Buc-ee’s has filed similar lawsuits against businesses around the country, and in many cases, the company has been successful.
That doesn’t mean people have to like it.
For Beavercreek residents, this has become less about trademark law and more about rooting for a local business that suddenly found itself in a legal battle with one of the country’s fastest-growing convenience store chains. And now, that support is spreading well beyond the city limits.
Whether the lawsuit succeeds will be decided in court.
But between cash mobs, fundraiser cookies, and an internet that has overwhelmingly embraced the underdog, Ohio seems to have already picked its favorite beaver.
