BEAVERCREEK, OHIO — Buc-ee’s filed a federal lawsuit against a small Ohio convenience store Tuesday saying the store’s cartoon mascot Beaver is too similar to theirs.
Action News Jax’s Ohio station WHIO-TV is reporting that the popular, massive chain of mega-travel centers is claiming copyright infringement against Beavercreek, Ohio-based Beaver’s Mini-Mart.
The owners of the mini-mart have two weeks to respond to the federal filing.
While Buc-ee’s operates large-scale travel centers with 120-plus gas pumps, the much smaller mini-mart is only a convenience store that does not offer fuel.
“We sympathize with the fact that this is a small local business and we want them to stay around and not get sued by a company that’s new to the area that’s way too big for them to fight against,” Taylor Reese, a small business owner, told WHIO.
The owners of Beaver’s Mini-Mart sent a statement to WHIO stating, “We are standing up for our rights and will fight this lawsuit all the way.”
The lawsuit was filed days after “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver talked about Buc-ee’s reputation for filing lawsuits that target businesses with cartoon animal mascots similar to its own.
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