The clash between the Portland Pickles and the (fictional) Peaks Valley Pickles has gone from a laughing matter to a legal battle.
The summer league baseball team filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Walt Disney Company — claiming the global entertainment company has engaged in trademark infringement for launching a team with the same name on its streaming television show, “Win or Lose.”
Attorneys for the local team are now seeking unspecified damages and a judge’s order permanently banning Disney from using their name in the show or on merchandise.
The lawyers say the Portland Pickles’ iconic antics have attracted devoted fans, both far and wide.
“That brand is now at risk of being diluted and devalued — not because of poor business decisions or market shifts, but because Disney thought the name ‘Pickles’ was catchy, and used it without regard for the real people and real community it represents,” according to the suit.
The Pickles have certainly gotten attention outside Portland before, including from a memorable but “misinterpreted” 2022 not-safe-for-the-fridge pickle pic posted by their mascot, Dillon, who is himself a giant pickle clad in the team’s green-and-white jersey.
The team name and its logo were federally registered as trademarks in 2016, court papers say, and remain prominently displayed on a variety of apparel and memorabilia sold online, at a downtown clubhouse and at their modest stadium at Lents Park.
Disney and several online retailers are selling T-shirts for the Peaks Valley Pickles, whose logo features a smiling green pickle, seen in profile holding a baseball bat and wearing a cap, the suit says.
“Disney’s actions were not only intentional but brazen, leveraging their outsized market power to appropriate a brand identity with a decade of goodwill and fan devotion behind it,” according to the lawsuit.
A Disney representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As for “Win or Lose,” its eight-episode first season premiered in February featuring a rag-tag team of youngsters learning valuable lessons as they head toward the big game.
It’s the first original series from Pixar Animation Studios for the Disney+ streaming service, and has charted relatively well, according to the company. Reviewers have been less kind, with one calling the rapid-fire plot “uninspired” and “not programming suitable for adults.”
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon, seeks unspecified punitive damages and findings that Disney engaged in willful trademark infringement.
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