The Cleveland Spiders haven’t been a baseball team since 1899, but a longstanding trademark dispute involving that team name and the University of Richmond—whose mascot is the Spiders—is now before a federal court in Ohio.
Last week, the owner of clevelandspiders.com, which sells streetwear and markets itself as an “ode to the past,” sued the university. The case is an appeal of the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) upholding Richmond’s objections to the registration of “Cleveland Spiders.”
Through a complaint authored by attorney Todd Wengrovsky, Adam Barrington maintains his 2021 applications for Cleveland Spiders trademarks should be approved for T-shirts, tank tops, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, hats, caps and various other apparel.
From USPTO filing
Barrington points out that in 2022, a USPTO trademark examining attorney searched the agency’s database of registered and pending marks and “found no conflicting marks” to warrant denial. That was the case even though other “Spiders” marks have been registered by the USPTO, including on behalf of the Richmond Spiders, collegiate summer baseball league team Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (Wisc.) and apparel and merchandise store Twisted Spiders.
After Barrington’s mark was published in the Trademark Official Gazette in 2022, two businesses—Richmond and the Cleveland Guardians—filed objections.
Richmond, which has multiple trademark registrations for “Spiders” and “Richmond Spiders,” asserts that spiders are a core part of the university’s branding, including in the sale of apparel. The school complains that Barrington has applied to register Cleveland Spiders for apparel items “commonly sold by universities—including UR—in connection with their academic and athletic programs.”
Further, as Richmond sees it, the “dominant element” in Barrington’s application is the word “spider,” and it shares “the same commercial impression and connotation” as the university’s spider marks. Making matters worse, Richmond argues, Barrington’s logo for Cleveland Spiders features an image of a spider, which the university also uses in connection with its marks.
Barrington’s motives are also questioned by Richmond.
“It would appear,” Richmond argues, that Barrington filed his applications “in response to rumors” that the Cleveland Indians would change their name to the Cleveland Spiders. In fact, Richmond found a 2020 Facebook post from the MLB team’s Facebook page with Barrington allegedly commenting and referencing legendary pitcher Cy Young having pitched for the Cleveland Spiders:
From USPTO filing
As the Indians contemplated a new name in 2020 and 2021, some pushed for the Spiders as a replacement. For example, ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle wrote a column urging the return of the Spiders. A few months after Barrington filed his applications in April 2021, however, the Indians picked the Guardians as their new name.
The Cleveland Guardians filed their own opposition to Barrington’s applications. Although the Guardians succeeded the Spiders in Cleveland in 1900, their franchise is from a different lineage. After a disastrous 20-134 season in 1899, the Spiders were contracted. At the time, the National League reduced its number of teams from 12 to eight, as earlier versions of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Senators, along with the Louisville Colonels, were also axed. A year later, the Grand Rapids Furniture Makers moved to Cleveland and became the franchise that would play in the American League and eventually be named the Indians and the Guardians.
The Guardians argue that Cleveland Spiders marks are too similar to their marks and the word Spiders is “likely to be understood as referring” to the Guardians given the historical ties between the Guardians and Spiders. The team also stresses that after it announced in July 2020 that it was going to evaluate a name change, Barrington used Facebook to encourage the selection of Cleveland Spiders as the team’s new name. The Guardians believe Barrington acted in bad faith by filing his applications as the media speculated that Spiders might be the new name.
The Guardians, of course, are no stranger to trademark battles over team names. The adoption of the Guardians name was complicated by a trademark dispute with a roller derby team that was already using Cleveland Guardians as its name. The two teams eventually settled, with both agreeing to accept the other as fellow Cleveland Guardians.
In testimony, Barrington has disputed the Cleveland Indians’ name change spurred his desire to register Cleveland Spiders. He has said he sold merchandise with the Cleveland Spiders marks beginning as far back as 1999 or 2000—two decades before the Indians weighed a name change—at flea markets and online.
Barrington also insists there is no likelihood of confusion for consumers. He argues consumers interested in his products are interested in streetwear, and he doesn’t “specifically target fans of sports or colleges.”
Barrington adds that he wasn’t aware of Richmond’s spiders marks until the litigation and “never intended for any” of his marks to relate to the university.
In addition, Barrington maintains, “there has never been a single instance in which any person” has indicated a belief he or his products are somehow associated with Richmond. He adds that spiders are used as nicknames by multiple sports teams, including the Oakland Spiders of the American Ultimate Disc League and the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (though, as Richmond points out, it is the only college to use Spiders as a mascot).
In 2025, the TTAB concluded that Barrington did not sufficiently address Richmond’s assertion that his spider marks are “substantially similar in overall appearance, connotation and commercial impression” to those of the school. The TTAB also noted the risk of confusion in the general public as to whether Barrington’s marks are associated with Richmond.
Barrington will now try his luck in court. U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster will preside over Barrington v. University of Richmond.
As of this writing, clevelandspiders.com continues to sell Cleveland Spiders caps, T-shirts, beanies and other streetwear. If Barrington is able to obtain trademark registration, it would provide a number of legal benefits. They include the exclusive right to use those marks, a presumption of ownership and anti-counterfeiting protections from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.