A South Carolina clothing company has agreed to pay Buc-ee’s $850,000 and destroy merchandise featuring a tactical version of the travel center chain’s famous beaver mascot, ending a trademark fight over products marketed under the name “Tac-Bucc.”
The consent judgment permanently bars Born United from using Buc-ee’s beaver logo or any confusingly similar mark. The company must also remove advertisements for the disputed products and destroy remaining merchandise featuring the design.
Buc-ee’s sued Born United in federal court in May 2025 after discovering shirts, shorts and patches featuring a beaver dressed in tactical gear, including night vision goggles. Some of the merchandise was marketed under the name “Tac-Bucc.”
The Texas-based travel center chain argued the design copied one of its most recognizable trademarks and could confuse consumers into believing Born United’s products were connected to or approved by Buc-ee’s.
Born United initially pushed back against the allegations and defended the design as a parody. The dispute ultimately ended before trial through a consent judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
Under the agreement, Born United must pay Buc-ee’s $850,000 and permanently stop manufacturing, advertising, or selling products bearing the Buc-ee’s beaver or marks considered confusingly similar. If the company violates the judgment, it could also be required to pay Buc-ee’s attorneys’ fees associated with enforcing the order.
Trademark disputes generally focus on whether consumers are likely to be confused about who made, sponsored, or approved a product. Buc-ee’s alleged that Born United crossed that line by using a beaver closely resembling its mascot on merchandise sold in the broader retail market.
Because the case ended through a consent judgment, the court did not issue a separate ruling deciding whether Born United’s parody defense would have succeeded at trial.
Buc-ee’s has built much of its brand around its smiling beaver mascot, which appears not only at its travel centers but across an extensive merchandise business that includes clothing, home goods and souvenirs. The company has also pursued other trademark cases involving businesses that use beaver or similar animal imagery.
Born United specializes in patriotic and military-themed clothing and merchandise and operates several stores in South Carolina. Owners Cameron Bechtold, Jared Williams and Josiah Bradley were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
South Carolina state Sen. Tom Fernandez, who previously held an ownership interest in Born United’s Myrtle Beach location, weighed in after news of the judgment became public.
“I am no longer an owner of Born United, including the Myrtle Beach store, and I was not a party to the lawsuit reported in the news today,” Fernandez wrote in a Facebook post.
He added that he would “continue to support the Born United team and the hardworking small-business entrepreneurs behind it,” saying he had confidence they would “learn, grow, and come back stronger than before.”
Fernandez also made clear where his support lies in the broader trademark fight.
“I do not support large corporations using their size and resources to bully small businesses through litigation,” he wrote. “I’m pulling for the family-owned Beaver’s Mini Mart in Ohio and hope they eat Buc-ee’s lunch.”
In June 2025, Fernandez said he owned about 49% of Born United’s Myrtle Beach store and publicly defended the tactical beaver design, describing it as creative, “different” and “protected.”
“The owners of Born United have spoken with their attorneys, and they feel confident, very confident, in their legal position,” Fernandez wrote at the time. “They’re not backing down. And I fully support them in fighting this in court.”
More than a year later, Born United has agreed to stop using the disputed beaver design, destroy its remaining “Tac-Bucc” merchandise, and pay Buc-ee’s $850,000 under the federal judgment.
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