The Texas convenience store chain Buc-ee's has set off a Buckeye backlash across Ohio and beyond after filing its latest trademark infringement lawsuit — this time against a small shop called Beaver's Mini Mart in the city of Beavercreek.

Supporters of the mini mart have attacked Buc-ee's online and boycotted its stores, and the shop's home city passed a resolution making the beaver an official part of its history. British comedian John Oliver has even weighed in, devoting an episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” to Buc-ee's aggressive history of trademark lawsuits targeting various woodland creatures and launching a website hawking merchandise bearing a knockoff “Buc-off” logo and a squirrel mascot named Mr. Nutterbutter. On X, #boycottbucees trended.

The case fits a broader pattern. A lip-licking alligator, a smiling moose and a hat-wearing bear are among the many cartoon animals that have previously found themselves in the crosshairs of Buc-ee's, a chain with a penchant for protecting its buck-toothed beaver. That aggressive posture has a legal logic: under U.S. trademark law, owners who fail to police their marks against confusingly similar uses risk weakening their rights over time, which is why established brands often pursue enforcement even against far smaller businesses.

Buc-ee's Ltd. sued Beaver's Mini Mart in late July, four months after opening its first Ohio store less than a half-hour's drive away. The company argues that the shop's beaver logo too closely resembles the convenience store giant's branded Buc-ee (“Bucky”) beaver, and it has asked for a jury trial in federal court in Ohio. The central question in such disputes is likelihood of consumer confusion, which courts assess using factors such as the similarity of the marks, how closely the businesses overlap, and any evidence of actual confusion.

The two businesses differ sharply in scale. Beaver's Mini Mart occupies a long, low building with a shingle roof at a suburban intersection. The new 74,000-square-foot (6,875-square-meter) Buc-ee's off Interstate 70 near Dayton — a chain known for its extensive food offerings and massive restrooms — has more than 100 gas pumps, 24 electric vehicle chargers and 700 parking spaces. A second Ohio store has been approved to open in 2028. The Ohio expansion is part of a broader push beyond the chain's home turf: Buc-ee's was founded in 1982 in Lake Jackson, Texas, and takes its name from founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III's nickname and that of his dog, Buck, and has since spread across the South and beyond.

While preparing to enter the state in February, Buc-ee's also sued the northern Ohio holding company for Mickey Mart gas stations, arguing that its Mickey the Moose logo could be confused with Buc-ee. (The company's response: “A moose is not a beaver.”)

The two beaver marks at the center of the current dispute are also visually distinct. The Buc-ee's logo features the face of a beaver with prominent buck teeth wearing a red ball cap against a yellow backdrop. The Beaver's Mini Mart mascot is a full beaver, unclothed, waving and smiling against a white background.

Customers have been critical of Buc-ee's decision to target the much smaller store. “I love Buc-ee's, but I don't plan on going back until they start making better business decisions,” said Austin Collins, 32, a project manager from Fairborn, speaking outside Beaver's, where he was making his first visit to protest the lawsuit. He called targeting a beaver-named business in Beavercreek “a little spiteful.” License plates from three states were visible in the parking lot.

Buc-ee's has defended the lawsuit as protective of its valuable trademark. In a statement on its website, the company said it first learned of Beaver's Mini Mart when its owner, Vic Boparai, filed a trade name registration on Oct. 23. According to the paperwork, the small business, incorporated in 2017, changed its name from Hanes Road Carryout to Beaver's Mini Mart in January 2025 — about four months after Buc-ee's broke ground near Dayton. Recognizing a conflict, the company said it repeatedly attempted to reach Boparai without success, so it was forced to sue.

Boparai has since issued a statement of his own, though it did not address the company's concerns or the merits of the lawsuit. “We want to say thank you to the community and the entire country for supporting us and our business,” he said. “We are overwhelmed by your support for our business and other small businesses everywhere.” The Associated Press has been unable to reach Boparai at Beaver's Mini Mart or by calling the store.

The Beavercreek City Council responded to the dust-up by passing a resolution on Aug. 10 making the beaver a permanent and official part of the city's 200-plus-year history. Bucky the Beaver, mascot of the Beavercreek Local Schools, visited the meeting ahead of the unanimous vote.

On social media, images lampooning the fight are rampant. One showed the Ohio State University football mascot, Brutus Buckeye, tackling Buc-ee the beaver.

Support has taken other forms, too. A GoFundMe campaign, aimed at assuring that costs associated with the lawsuit do not put Beaver's Mini Mart out of business — as has happened to other establishments Buc-ee's sued — had raised at least $69,000. The mini mart gave permission to The Original Goodie Shop bakery in Upper Arlington to use its logo on a signature cookie, with $1 from each one sold going to support Beaver's legal fees. Cake, Hope & Love, a Beavercreek bakery, is also offering cookies adorned with buck-toothed beavers that urge shopping local. Other Dayton-area businesses — including a Lego store and a root beer shop — have temporarily altered their logos to include beavers in a show of solidarity. Dozens of businesses in Beavercreek already incorporate the city name or the word beaver in their names.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who attended and praised the grand opening of the Dayton-area Buc-ee's store in April, described the lawsuit as “absurd.”

“It is Beavercreek, for heaven's sake,” the governor told reporters.

Source: Fortune