Cleveland Guardians Battle: Roller Derby -V- Baseball & ESPN Liability to BIG 12

Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben), Intellectual Property Attorney, is our special guest this week as he joins the show to discuss all things Cleveland Guardians. This is truly a story without any historical comparison so we'll take all the help we can get as we continue to provide breaking news on what appears to be an absolutely colossal mistake by a billion dollar baseball team. Again, our free legal advice is to suck it up and pay the roller derby team to end this embarrassing story. Note, this podcast is NOT sponsored by the Cleveland Guardians... but it should be... The ROADMAP: 1:27 - The Big 12 Cease & Desist. It’s not everyday that a Conference Commissioner threatens to sue a sports media behemoth… oh wait that’s never happened. The Big 12’s Bob Bowlsby went scorched earth on ESPN threatening to sue them for “Tortious Interference” for their alleged role in helping schools bolt the conference to go elsewhere and thereby breach their conference contracts. Bowlsby claims he has concrete evidence to show that ESPN got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and is sending a very LOUD message that he’ll go after anyone that threatens his conference. We discuss who might be next on Bowlsby’s hit list and what happens legally if the conference disintegrates. Then the question is what happens to the rest of the college sports landscape with conference realignment on the horizon and looming mega negotiations in this game of school musical chairs. (More on ConductDetrimental.com courtesy of John Sigety & Mel Stack) 11:54 - Battle of Cleveland Guardians. “This could be a problematic case for MLB.” Our special guest, Josh Gerben - Intellectual Property Attorney, joins the show and gives an incredible breakdown of what is trending towards an “epic” battle... it’s the Original Guardians (Roller Derby) versus The Invader Guardians (Baseball). We walk through the various trademark filings by: an apparent NY squatter, by the Indians (in the country of Mauritis???) and then by the Roller Derby Guardians (interestingly after the Indians’ announcement). Josh then analyzes Roller Derby’s first-use argument and why the Indians might actually have a losing trademark case; the overall impact of new Roller Derby merchandise, and their post-announcement use of the website/social. We also debate the looming “abandonment” question as to whether Roller Derby gave up the mark due to inactivity during the pandemic. Moving forward, we discuss settlement talks and how much it should cost Baseball to take the website, social media, and the trademark free and clear. (More on ConductDetrimental.com with insights from a Top Roller Derby Executive courtesy of Stephanie Weissenburger) 42:00 - What to Watch For: The NHL Investigation on San Jose Sharks' Evander Kane & Looming Trade, Arrival of Dan Lust’s Cleveland Guardians Merchandise, Buffalo Sports (Relocation & Sabers' Jack Eichel’s Medical Dispute), Daily Fantasy Oral Argument 47:10 - Legal/Life Advice: Steph tells her story of surviving the Bar Exam *** Have a topic you want to write about? ANYONE and EVERYONE can publish for ConductDetrimtental.com. Let us know if you want to join the team. Dan Wallach (@WallachLegal) Dan Lust (@SportsLawLust) Mike Lawson (@Mike_sonof_Law) Steph Weissenburger (@SWeissenburger_) Conduct Detrimental (@ConDetrimental) [email protected]