Pepperdine Sues Netflix Over Trademark In Show’s Fictional Portrayal Of The Lakers
Trademark disputes where it is very clear that the complaining party is actually concerned about something other than customer confusion are always fun. All the more so when the target is a work of fiction, with the supposedly offending content also being fictional. We saw an example of this when a software company sued Warner Bros. because a piece of fictional software in The Dark Knight Rises, called “Clean Slate,” shared a name with the company’s very real software. Despite being named exactly the same, the courts laughed that one out of the courtroom because, well, it’s a work of fiction. There was no competition among the entities and the context of the film was such that nobody was going to think any of this was a reference to the real software.
More recently, Pepperdine University sued Netflix. As proudly noted on the school’s website, Pepperdine sued because an upcoming Netflix show, Running Point, features a basketball team with some similarties to the school’s basketball program.
Pepperdine University filed a lawsuit today against Netflix, Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. for trademark infringement and related causes of action resulting from their unauthorized uses of Pepperdine’s trademarks and branding in the upcoming series Running Point, currently scheduled to be released on February 27, 2025. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeks injunctive relief to prevent further use of Pepperdine’s trademarks, as well as damages for the infringement and harm caused by the misappropriation of the university’s brand.
Running Point features a purportedly fictional Los Angeles-based basketball team called the “Waves” that bears a striking resemblance in branding to Pepperdine’s longstanding and well-known Waves athletics program. The series prominently features a team name, colors, and other indicia that are identical or highly similar to Pepperdine’s, as well as the number “37,” which is closely associated with the university’s history and mascot.
While that all sounds quite damning, there’s a problem. The “Waves” in the show are a professional basketball team, not a college program. How do I know that? Well, because Jeanie Buss is an Executive Producer of the show. Buss is the owner of the LA Lakers and the show is loosely based on her experiences taking over for her father. There is nothing in the trailer, the show notes, or anything having to do with the series that would indicate that Pepperdine University is in any way involved, no matter any resemblance the school may have cherry-picked.
So what’s actually going on here? Well…
The lawsuit details how Running Point’s portrayal of the “Waves” team will cause consumer confusion and falsely suggest an affiliation between Pepperdine and the show. The university has also expressed deep concerns about some of the series’ themes, which include explicit content, substance use, nudity, and profanity—elements that are inconsistent with Pepperdine’s Christian values and reputation.
Sadly for the school, “This is trademark infringement! Just look how tightly I’m clutching my pearls!” is not much of a legal argument.
Happily, the courts appear to agree when it comes to Pepperdine’s request to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the release of the show.
A federal judge has rejected Pepperdine University’s bid for a court order to block Netflix from releasing parts of episodes of its upcoming series Running Point that allegedly infringe on its basketball team’s trademarks. With the denial on Wednesday of the temporary restraining order, Netflix will continue with plans to release the sports comedy tomorrow.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela found that Netflix’s use of the Waves’ marks “does not explicitly mislead consumers as to the source of the work.” She stressed that the show’s title cards show to viewers that Netflix, WBD and Mindy Kaling are responsible for the series.
The LA Waves, the name of the fictional basketball team in Running Point, is meant to be a nod to the Lakers.
I mean, that’s kind of the fatal flaw in this lawsuit. It claims that the show is creating an association with the school, but it’s really about the Lakers, loosely. And given that this is a creative work we’re talking about, a ton of leeway is going to be given to that expression of protected speech. I’m sure the school will attempt to make a tarnishment argument as this gets further on, but I don’t expect that to gain much traction either for all of the same reasons.
While Pepperdine is by no means an unknown school, the irony here is that this lawsuit probably does more to link the school with the show than the show did on its own.