Bernd Becker 
The Derby Dolls, a roller derby team in Cleveland, Ohio is suing the owners of the NBA Cavaliers to stop them from using their name. The Warriors are mentioned as legal precedent for why this case could be won by one organization over another with similar names.
The “cleveland guardians roller derby trademark” is a team that has filed a lawsuit against the Cleveland Guardians to stop their use of the name.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — In federal court in Cleveland on Wednesday, a roller derby club known as the Cleveland Guardians since 2013 sued the city’s Major League Baseball franchise, claiming that the change from Indians to Guardians infringes on its trademark.
The complaint said, “A Major League club cannot just borrow a minor team’s name and utilize it for itself.” “In Cleveland, there cannot be two ‘Cleveland Guardians’ teams, and, to be plain, Plaintiff arrived first.”
After years of accusations that the Indians name and Chief Wahoo insignia were racist, the Cleveland Indians announced in July that they will change their name to the Guardians for the 2022 season. The new name was inspired in part by two massive Art Deco sculptures that seem to defend a bridge across the Cuyahoga River, according to the team.
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The all-female roller derby squad is situated in Parma, a Cleveland suburb. According to the complaint, it legally registered the name Cleveland Guardians with the Ohio secretary of state in 2017 and has been selling team items since 2014.
The Indians stated in a statement on Wednesday, “We’ve always been confident in our ability to become the Guardians, and we continue to be so. We do not feel the parties’ capacity to operate in their separate business sectors is in conflict.”
The baseball club applied for a trademark for the Guardians name in the East African island country of Mauritius in April, “essentially disguising the application unless one knew where to look,” according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, the baseball club contacted the roller derby squad in June, informing them it was contemplating utilizing the name Guardians and asking them to provide a picture of their uniform.
The Indians offered a “nominal price” when the roller derby club offered to sell the rights to the Guardians moniker to the baseball team, which the roller derby squad declined, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, the baseball club filed a new trademark application for the team logo in Mauritius. In July, the team also applied for two federal trademarks, claiming exclusive rights to the Guardians moniker.
Negotiations between the two clubs over the name’s rights started following the baseball team’s announcement in July and ended on Tuesday, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, the roller derby squad wants the baseball team to market and promote the fact that it will no longer be known as the Guardians, with “at least as much time and resources” put into promoting the new name.
It also wants the baseball club to set up a fund equivalent to the amount it spends on advertising and marketing if it keeps the Guardians name so the roller derby squad may afford “corrective advertising.”
A court will have to decide if the Guardians name would create confusion for supporters of both the baseball and roller derby teams, according to Mark Sommers, a trademark attorney with the Finnegan law firm in Washington.
“There’s no chance of mistake if there’s no overlap between the two brands,” Sommers added.
Sommers believes the case will be settled before it goes to trial.
“Money has a big effect on how trademark issues are resolved,” he stated. “Rather than a court of law, the field of play is best settled via dialogue and settlement.”
The name change for the Cleveland Indians is set to take effect in the middle of November.
The “cleveland guardians roller derby team” is suing the Cleveland Guardians to stop them from using the name.
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