Don't get me wrong on this. I love Buc-ee's. I really, really love Buc-ee's. I love their business model; I love their snacks; I love their barbecue brisket sandwiches. I love that there is something so quintessentially 'Merican about a gas station that has over 40 pumps and a convenience store that's bigger than some whole countries in Europe. I'd love to have a Buc-ee's here, although Alaska is a long, long way from any potential Buc-ee's sites; besides, we have Three Bears, which is an actual by-gosh alcohol, tobacco, and firearms store, which is pretty Alaskan.
But honestly, Buc-ee's needs to stop taking their trademark quite so seriously. They've engaged in several lawsuits claiming infringement; some of them, one looks at and goes, well, maybe, and others, well, not so much.
Case in point: Buc-ee's has just reached a settlement in a lawsuit-countersuit fight with an Ohio company called Mickey's, again claiming trademark infringement. The only problem? Mickey's logo is a moose.
Trust me. I live in Alaska. We have both. A beaver and a moose look nothing alike. And yet, here we are.
Buc-ee’s has settled a trademark infringement lawsuit with an Ohio gas station chain that involved their cartoon mascots.
The chain of massive travel centers sued Mickey's gas station chain in February, alleging that the company's mascot — a cartoon moose named Mickey — infringed on its trademark. The company notes in the lawsuit that its own logo features a cartoon beaver that faces right, and that Mickey is “a cartoon animal facing right with wide eyes and a smile, overlaying a round background.”
The lawsuit further claims that Mickey's had until recently been called “Mickey Mart” and alleges the name change now “more closely resembles Plaintiff's BUC-EE's mark.”
Now, the legal question is whether customers might think the businesses are connected, not whether a moose looks like a beaver. Buc-ee's also points to similarities in the names and red branding.
But am I getting this right? Part of Buc-ee's claim was that both cartoon animals were facing right? And smiling? That's pretty much the definition of a reach, and believe you me, with their stubby legs and big, webbed feet, beavers can't reach all that far.
Mickey's countersued Buc-ee's in April, claiming malicious litigation and unfair competition. It argued that “Ohio consumers can readily distinguish a moose from a beaver,” and that cartoon animals are a common mascot for convenience stores, according to NBC 4.
Buc-ee's and Coles IP Holdings, the parent company of Mickey's, reached a confidential settlement agreement September 15. It's unclear if Mickey's will have to change its logo as a result of the settlement agreement.
Honestly, and remember, I love Buc-ee's, there's no reason that Mickey's should have to change their logo. So what if they are both facing the same direction? It's either right or left. It's a 50-50 chance that any profile image will also be facing right. And what good is a cartoon animal logo if it's not smiling?
This isn't Buc-ee's first such case. They went after a small convenience store in Beavercreek, Ohio, called Beaver's Mini Mart, which had a cartoon logo of — guess what — a beaver. But the Beaver's Mini Mart logo was of a beaver, standing up, looking straight ahead; to this non-artist's eye, it looks nothing like the Buc-ee's logo. Although, in the case of Buc-ee's lawsuit against a South Carolina clothing store, Born United, well, I can see their point there.
"It’s not the Buc-ee’s logo. It’s creative. It’s different. And it’s protected,” SC state Sen. Tom Fernandez, a part-owner of one store, previously wrote. He added Buc-ee's knows "that they'll lose this case. They're just trying to bully born united.” https://t.co/NmCA3cuMls
— Nick Reynolds (@IAmNickReynolds) September 9, 2026
I think Buc-ee's has a cause to object on that one.
Look, I love Buc-ee's. And I get that protecting one's intellectual property is a serious matter, as more than a few people have found out the hard way. But in this case, I think Buc-ee's should worry more about making their stores more awesome and not so much about the cartoon logos of other companies, especially when the cartoon logo isn't even a rodent.
Oh, and I think there's some real estate in Anchorage that would be a good location for a Buc-ee's. I'd advocate for one here in the Valley, but if it were too close by, I'd probably be spending way too much time there. Because I love Buc-ee's.
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