Buc-ee's Files Suit Against Missouri Drive-Thru Over Trademark Issue
LAKE JACKSON, Texas — Buc-ee's is pushing back against a similarly named competitor in Missouri.
The retailer filed a lawsuit on Nov. 15 alleging that 2 Wiseman Enterprises dba Duckees Drive Thru, located in Kimberling City, and its cartoon duck logo infringe Buc-ee's trademarks.
The filing alleges infringement of two trademarks covering Buc-ee's cartoon beaver logo, two trademarks covering its name, and four trademarks covering its advertising business services and various other Buc-ee's branded goods, reported the Dallas Morning News.
In addition the rhyming Duckees name, Buc-ee's pointed out that the Duckees logo is stylized as a cartoon duck set against a yellow background within a black circle outline.
"The DUCKEES' Word Trademark DUCKEES copies the most important aspects of BUC-EE'S Word Trademark," the lawsuit stated. "The DUCKEES' Word Trademark DUCKEES, among other things, is nearly identical both orally and visually to the BUC-EE'S Word Trademark BUC-EE'S."
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The lawsuit, which was assigned to U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark, seeks an injunction halting Duckees from using the logo.
2 Wiseman Enterprises has not yet filed a response, according to the news outlet.
This isn't Buc-ee's first move to legally defend its trademark. In August 2023, the company announced it would take steps to halt use of its intellectual property after a photo of the Buk-II's Super Mercado, located in Matamoros Tamaulipas near the Los Indios International Bridge to the U.S. border, went viral online. The store featured a deformed variation of the famous beaver wearing a red hat against a yellow circle depicted in Buc-ee's logo.
Additionally, in 2017 Buc-ee's filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Omaha, Neb.-based Bucky's was trying to confuse consumers with a similar name as it made plans to enter the Texas market. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit the following year.
Founded in 1982, Lake Jackson-based Buc-ee's operates 50 stores, including 35 across Texas, as well as multiple locations in other states.