Then, in June, the Indians, through lawyers, got in contact with the Guardians roller derby team to let them know the name was under consideration. 'On April 8, 2021, the team surreptitiously filed a trademark application for the CLEVELAND GUARDIANS name in the small, East African island nation of Mauritius, effectively hiding the application unless one knew where to look,' it reads. The lawsuit details some of what had happened in the preceding months. In fact, there was a delay of about a week before announcing the name as the team and MLB were clearing up the last of these issues.' The team was aware of the derby team and in late July Terry Pluto reported, 'From everything I’m told from top MLB sources, there is no problem with the Tribe’s new name in terms of trademarks, etc. Observers quickly noted the existence of the Guardians roller derby team and the relative silence from them regarding the name change. The then-Cleveland Indians in late July announced the new name, debuted with a video narrated by Tom Hanks. 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.” “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. “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,” Pardo said in a statement to WKYC.

The roller derby team alleges the MLB name change was undertaken in a fashion meant to give it little time to address it and when confronted, the Cleveland Guardians baseball organization offered 'a truly nominal amount' for the team's url and social media accounts, according to a statement by Christopher Pardo, the lawyer for the derby team.

There cannot be two 'Cleveland Guardians' teams in Cleveland, and, to be blunt, Plaintiff was here first.' 'Economic might, however, does not make legal right. Despite knowing of Plaintiff’s established rights, Defendant wants to call its team the 'Cleveland Guardians' too,' the lawsuit reads. Yet that is precisely what Defendant, Cleveland Guardians Baseball Company, LLC (f/k/a Cleveland Indians Baseball Company), seeks to do. A Major League club cannot simply take a smaller team’s name and use it for itself. 'The same laws that protect baseball team owners’ trademark rights, though, also work in reverse. (Full PDF of the lawsuit at the end of this story.)

WKYC first reported on the lawsuit this morning.

Sale of goods act s 52