A team of roller derbywho calls himself Cleveland Guardians since 2013 sued the club from that same city in the Major Leagues Wednesday, in federal court in Cleveland.
The lawsuit claims that changing the name of the baseball team from Indios to Guardianes infringes on the trademark from the ensemble of roller derby, a sport that combines wrestling with roller skating racing.
“A major league team can’t just take the name of a smaller team and start using it.”, the application reads. “There can’t be two Cleveland Guardian teams in Cleveland and, to be frank, the plaintiff was here first.”
The Cleveland Indians announced in July that from the 2022 season they were going to change their identity and adopt the name of Guardians. The measure came after years of criticism related to the name of Indians and the logo of Chief Wahoo, considered racist by different groups.
The new name, the team reported, was influenced, in part, by the two Art Deco statues that appear to stand guard on the bridge that crosses the Cuyahoga River.
The roller derby team is based in the Cleveland suburb of Parma. He formally registered the Cleveland Guardians name in 2017 with the Ohio secretary of state and has sold merchandise since 2014, the lawsuit details.
In a statement Wednesday, the Indians commented: “We have and continue to trust in our position to become Guardians. We believe that there is no conflict between the parties and in the ability to operate each one in their respective business areas “.
The baseball team applied for the Guardians name rights in April, in the East African island nation of Mauritius, “effectively hiding the application, unless one knew well where to look,” the suit read.