Roller derby team suing Cleveland baseball team for changing name to Guardians

It seems like the Cleveland Baseball team can’t get anything right.

According to reports, a Cleveland-based co-ed roller derby team is suing the MLB franchise for copyright infringement. The Roller Derby team, also named the Guardians, has used the name since 2013 and filed the trademark with the state of Ohio back in 2017.

“Two sports teams in the same city cannot have identical names…There cannot be two ‘Cleveland Guardians’ teams in Cleveland, and, to be blunt, plaintiff was here first.” said the lawyers representing the roller derby team.

Despite the lawsuit, the Cleveland franchise expects that they will be able to start using the nickname next season.

“We have been and continue to be confident in our position to become the Guardians. We believe there is no conflict between the parties and their ability to operate in their respective business areas.” said the team in a statement.