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Pepperdine University Sues Netflix for Trademark Violations
By Kimber Cooley, associate editor
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The graphics above are taken from a complaint filed by Pepperdine University in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging trademark infringement by Netflix. |
Pepperdine University has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., asserting trademark infringement and other claims relating to the entertainment companies’ allegedly unauthorized use of the school’s trademarks and branding in an upcoming series titled “Running Point.”
The pleading, filed Thursday, alleges that the show, starring Kate Hudson and slated for release next week, is “a raunchy comedy that follows an ambitious protagonist appointed as president of a Los Angeles basketball team” and contends that the series misappropriates the university’s trademarked name, the Waves, as well as the school’s blue and orange colors.
In the complaint, Pepperdine says:
“While Defendants could have chosen any number of names for their purportedly fictional team, and used any number of color combinations for their uniforms, they chose instead to usurp Pepperdine’s trademarked name in its registered field of use for a team in Pepperdine’s home town, they chose to appropriate Pepperdine’s color palette, and they even chose to promote a specific player number—the number 37, reflecting the year of Pepperdine’s founding—that as Defendants well know is the number worn by Pepperdine’s mascot….In short,…Defendants have infringed…Pepperdine’s trademarks protecting the Pepperdine WAVES marks and Pepperdine’s other valuable intellectual property rights, in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq., and California law.”
A motion for a temporary restraining order was also filed by the university on Thursday, seeking to preliminarily enjoin “[c]ontinuing to show the trailer for the Running Point series or otherwise promoting the series with materials that refer to the team depicted in the series as the Waves” and “[s]howing…any episodes…unless they are first edited to remove all references to the team…as the Waves and eliminate all uses of the…registered trademarks.”
Laker Leader’s Story
Netflix has promoted the series as “a fictionalized take on the Lakers leader’s groundbreaking story,” referring to the Los Angeles team’s co-owner Jeanie Buss, who serves as an executive producer on the show.
Pepperdine claims that “many of these distinctive features of Pepperdine’s brand were displayed prominently in close proximity to…Buss and her team” as “[f]or years, Pepperdine maintained a conference room in Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena)—the home of the Lakers…—where an image of a Pepperdine basketball player sporting the WAVES mark, Pepperdine’s distinctive school colors, and images of Malibu were prominently displayed.”
The complaint also alleges:
“[E]ven though the series was based on the Lakers, and Ms. Buss…was also involved in producing the series, the team depicted in the series does not use any Lakers colors or branding. Rather than use Lakers trademarks, Lakers colors, or other intellectual property that Ms. Buss controls and has the ability to license or use, Defendants inexplicably chose to appropriate the intellectual property of another Los Angeles team and take Pepperdine’s name, trademarks, colors, and other identifying characteristics and associate them with their purportedly fictitious team.”
Pernicious Use
Pepperdine asserts in the filing that “Defendants’ infringement here is particularly pernicious given the juxtaposition between Pepperdine’s religious and moral values and those depicted in Defendants’ series,” saying that “[a]s depicted by the trailer, this story includes themes of alcohol and substance use, sexual innuendo and imagery, foul language, as well as other offensive themes that are anathema to the values that Pepperdine…promotes.”
Pointing to specific examples of sexually charged dialogue, the document also says that “[t]he trailer even includes a topless photo of Kate Hudson with Pepperdine’s WAVES mark shown prominently.”
In a press release distributed on Friday, Pepperdine University Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Sean Burnett said that “[s]ince its founding in 1937, Pepperdine University has established itself as a Christian University committed to academic excellence and a world-class athletics program.” He continued:
“Without our permission, Netflix continues to promote Running Point, a new series that has misappropriated our trademarked name, the Waves, our colors, blue and orange, our hometown of Los Angeles, and even the year we were founded as an institution. Given this flagrant disregard for our intellectual property and the damage to our institutional identity, together with Netflix’s and Warner Bros.’ continued refusal to resolve Pepperdine’s concerns, we believe it necessary to seek court intervention.”
The university is represented by Andrei Iancu, Robert A. Sacks, and Emily Olsen of the Century City office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, as well as Aviv S. Halpern of the Palo Alto office. Also acting for the plaintiff are Daniel M. Cislo and Katherine M. Bond of Los Angeles-based Cislo & Thomas LLP.
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