Netflix's promotion of fictional team does not constitute trademark use

Pepperdine University v. Netflix, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-01429-CV (ADSx) (C.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2026)

After denying the motion for preliminary injunction, the court finally tosses Pepperdine’s lawsuit based on use of a fictional Waves team in a Netflix show. Rogers applies to content, even prominent content, in a TV show.

Pepperdine claimed, and the court assumed, its rights in “Waves” for its athletic teams, along with a blue and orange color scheme “in conjunction with athletic programs and athletic merchandise, and/or in conjunction with other symbols that are associated with and identify the university—including the ‘Waves’ team name and the number ‘37.’”

Defendants made and distributed Running Point, “a series about a woman who is unexpectedly appointed president of a basketball franchise named the Los Angeles Waves.” The LA Waves allegedly use a mark similar to Pepperdine’s Waves trademark and similar colors to Pepperdine’s colors: a similar font, the color orange for the lettering, white outlining, a blue border, and the use of the word “Waves” in a similar context—on athletic-style clothing.

Pepperdine alleged that the use of the Waves marks is “pervasive” in the series, and appears throughout the series—on jerseys, shirts, stadiums, etc., including a logo that is similar to Pepperdine’s Waves mark, with a blue and white wave next to the orange “WAVES” text. “The show also includes a framed jersey in a conference room with the number 37 on it.”

Pepperdine alleged that defendants (or others) promoted Running Point with Waves references: Actors have posted pictures of themselves in “Waves” jerseys, with the caption “SIGNED to the Los Angeles Waves! . . . Check out my dunks on Running Point now on Netflix.” Another actor posted an image which prominently states “Los Angeles WAVES.” Defendant Kaling International’s official Instagram profile previously showed its founder, Mindy Kaling, wearing a “WAVES” shirt, and included a biography reading “Home of the Los Angeles WAVES.”

Pepperdine alleged that the team name is thus “essentially synonymous with the show’s identity and its source.” Also, third parties are allegedly now selling variations of Waves-branded merchandise under the description “Running Point.”

The court looked to the cases discussed in JDI to identify the appropriate situations to use the Rogers test: the “Barbie Girl” case, University of Alabama Board of Trustees v. New Life Art, Inc., 683 F.3d 1266 (2012) and Louis Vuitton Malletier S. A. v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 868 F. Supp. 2d 172 (S.D.N.Y. 2012). The court also pointed to the Rogers-based dismissals in Haas Automation, Inc. v. Steiner, No. 24-CV-03682-AB-JC, 2024 WL 4440914 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 25, 2024) and JTH Tax LLC d/b/a Liberty Tax v. AMC Networks Inc., 694 F. Supp. 3d 315 (S.D.N.Y. 2023). In the former, a book included plaintiff’s mark on its front cover, back cover, and on several pages, but the mark was “not used to tell the consumer who published the book or the source of the book.” Rather, the mark told the consumer what the book was about and who the author worked for. In the latter, the defendant’s TV series included a fictional tax preparation business called “Sweet Liberty Tax Services.” In both cases, defendants had not used the marks “as their own identifying trademark.”

By contrast, post-JDI, courts have rejected Rogers as applied to the name of a news website and the title of a film.

Netflix argued that its uses were not source-identifying and that defendants were clearly identifying themselves as the source of the TV series.

The court agreed. It was insufficient to allege “extensive use of the Waves mark in the show, Defendants’ use of the Waves mark to market the show, consumers’ connection of the Waves mark with the show, and Defendants’ previous pattern of obtaining trademarks for fictional entities within their television series.” That’s because the question is whether defendants “used the Waves mark as a designation of source for their own product—Running Point.”

Just as “Barbie Girl” repeated Barbie’s name and imitated her voice, pervasive use of the Waves “mark” “does not explicitly mislead as to the source of the work,” and does not “explicitly or otherwise, suggest that it was produced by [Pepperdine].” That didn’t change with allegations that the use in the content was so pervasive as to be “essentially synonymous with the show’s identity.” Nor did the court accept conclusory allegations that the use was source identifying.

At most, Pepperdine alleged that the Waves mark is “immediately recognized” to identify the Running Point series, and that its use is synonymous with the series. But use to “identify the show” is not itself use “as a designation of source.” Identifying the show can include content! An actor who posts themselves in a “Waves” jersey saying “Check out my dunks on Running Point now on Netflix” is pretty clearly identifying Netflix as the source of the show. Use in marketing wasn’t inherently trademark use, nor was it relevant that “Defendants have obtained trademarks in fictional businesses central to their shows in the past.”

The use was artistically relevant and not explicitly misleading. The court noted that the parties did not, as alleged, use the Waves marks for the same “purpose”; while you could call both “sports-related entertainment,” Pepperdine uses the Waves mark to identify its collegiate sports teams, and defendants use it in a TV series for a fictional sports team.

Although Pepperdine alleged that third parties sell Running Point Waves merchandise, they didn’t explain how defendants could be liable for the acts of these third parties.

Nor did statements like “home of the Los Angeles WAVES,” equate to claims like “‘Nimmer on Copyright,’ ‘Jane Fonda’s Workout Book,’ or ‘an authorized biography’” as a statement that misstates who authored or endorsed the series. The question was whether defendants were misleading consumers as to the source of the Running Point series. To the contrary, they were explicitly claiming to be the source of the series, rather than claiming “brought to you by Pepperdine,” or even “brought to you by the WAVES.” A fictional professional sports team “can clearly be distinguished by consumers from the Pepperdine Waves—a real collegiate sports team.”