The Cleveland Indians announced their rebranding to the Cleveland Guardians in July, but there have been legal complications with the Cleveland Guardians roller derby team, resulting in the filing of a federal lawsuit. However, good news for the Cleveland baseball faithful is that a resolution has been reached between the two teams, as per Zack Meisel:
The Cleveland baseball team and local roller derby team have reached a resolution on the lawsuit. Both teams will continue to use the name Guardians.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) November 16, 2021
The federal lawsuit filed by the roller derby team pointed to the supposed surreptitious filing of a trademark on the team name, while further allegations made concerned claims of dishonesty on the part of the Indians when it came to the front office's knowledge of the roller derby team with the same name. The debacle concerning the Guardians name reached multiple levels of negotiations, as stated by NBC Sports Chicago's James Best:
However, the derby team's lawsuit alleges that the ballclub lied to the U.S. Trademark Office about its knowledge of the derby team's use of the Guardians name. The lawsuit also states the baseball team tried to shortchange the derby team, offering ‘nominal' compensation. Negotiations between the two teams broke down on Tuesday.
The derby team was established in 2013 but has not had a season since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They currently have plans for a 2022 season.
The resolution reached by both teams stipulate that both the Cleveland major league baseball team and the Cleveland roller derby team are permitted to use the Guardians name in their branding, a relatively anticlimactic end to a unique narrative.
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