Cleveland Guardians facing lawsuit from Ohio roller derby team over name change

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An Ohio roller derby team by the name of the Cleveland Guardians has filed a federal lawsuit against the former Cleveland Indians, which adopted the same Guardians nickname at the end of the 2021 season. The roller derby team alleges the baseball franchise knew about the name conflict and attempted to hide it.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio says the roller derby team has been known as the Cleveland Guardians since 2013 and formally registered the name with the Ohio secretary of state in 2017. 

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"A Major League club cannot simply take a smaller team's name and use it for itself," the lawsuit said. "There cannot be two ‘Cleveland Guardians’ teams in Cleveland, and, to be blunt, plaintiff was here first."

The Indians announced in July that they would change their name to the Guardians for the 2022 season after years of criticism that the Indians name and Chief Wahoo logo were racist. 

Cleveland Indians fans hold signs to commemorate the end the "Cleveland Indians" as they become the "Cleveland Guardians" next season after their 8-3 win over the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field Sept. 27, 2021 in Cleveland.  (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

"It is inconceivable that an organization worth more than $1B and estimated to have annual revenues of $290M+ would not at least have performed a Google search for ‘Cleveland Guardians’ before settling on the name, and even a cursory search would have returned plaintiff’s website (www.clevelandguardians.com) as the first ‘hit,’" the lawsuit added, via FOX 8.

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The lawsuit also alleges that the MLB team attempted to hide its intentions after filing a trademark application for the name in the East African island nation of Mauritius, "effectively hiding the application unless one knew where to look."

After approaching the roller derby team in June with the idea that it was considering the name change, the lawsuit states that Cleveland offered to pay a "nominal amount" for the rights, which the roller derby team rejected. 

A view of the lights during a game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field Sept. 27, 2021 in Cleveland. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

The baseball team subsequently made another trademark filing in Mauritius for the team logo, the lawsuit said. The team also filed two federal trademark applications in July claiming exclusive rights to the Guardians name.

"Major League Baseball would never let someone name their lacrosse team the ‘Chicago Cubs’ if the team was in Chicago, or their soccer team the ‘New York Yankees’ if that team was in New York – nor should they," Christopher Pardo, an attorney representing the roller derby team, said in a statement, via WKYC. 

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"The same laws that protect Major League Baseball from the brand confusion that would occur in those examples also operate in reverse to prevent what the Indians are trying to do here. By taking the name ‘Cleveland Guardians’ overnight, the Indians knowingly and willfully eviscerated the rights of the original owner of that name – the real Cleveland Guardians."

A Cleveland Indians fan holds up a sign during a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians, Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The lawsuit is seeking to stop the name change and damages.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.