December 21, 2011 – 2:21pm

Instead, the battered sports franchise is taking on Burbank, Calif.-based The Walt Disney Co.

Disney/Pixar’s latest animated film, “Brave,” which centers on a flame-haired Scottish princess with a talent for archery, already is garnering publicity six months prior to its projected release. The Atlanta Braves reportedly filed a “formal objection” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after Disney’s most recent attempt to trademark various iterations of the title on Oct. 20.

The team has until Jan. 18, 2012, to file opposition papers with the Trademark Trial and Appeals board, according to reports.

Though the Atlanta National League Ball Club, which owns the Atlanta Braves, holds only the rights to the word “Braves,” it alleges the fans, media and others commonly use the word “Brave” to refer to a single player and “Braves” to refer to the entire team.

Its objection stems from the fear that Disney’s use of the singular form will lead to confusion and even damage due to the team’s use of “Brave” in its merchandising.

Another baseball franchise, the New York Mets, has amicably shared a variation of its name with two local institutions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera House, both commonly referred to as “The Met.”

The Atlanta National League Ball Club and Disney Co. reportedly were in negotiations to settle the dispute.

 

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(CNN) — According to Disney news blog Stitch Kingdom, the Atlanta Braves aren’t big fans of upcoming animated film “Brave.”This summer, the Atlanta National League Baseball Club (owners of the Atlanta Braves), reportedly filed an objection to Disney’s attempts to trademark the title “Brave.” The team claims that the upcoming animated film’s moniker is already being used by their organization.Although the Braves don’t own any trademarks for the word “Brave” (only “Braves”), they insist that damages will occur as a result of the trademarks being approved.The team claims that they’ve used the singular form of Braves on merchandise, and say that “Brave” is used when referring to a single player (as opposed to the whole team being the “Braves.”)The Walt Disney Company and the Atlanta National League Ball Club are said to be currently involved in private negotiations.The 3-D fantasy adventure movie — produced by Pixar and released by Disney — will hit theaters June 22. The kids flick follows a courageous girl from the Highlands of Scotland.

Copyright CNN 2011

According to Disney news blog Stitch Kingdom, the Atlanta Braves aren’t big fans of upcoming animated film “Brave.”

This summer, the Atlanta National League Baseball Club (owners of the Atlanta Braves), reportedly filed an objection to Disney’s attempts to trademark the title “Brave.” The team claims that the upcoming animated film’s moniker is already being used by their organization.

Although the Braves don’t own any trademarks for the word “Brave” (only “Braves”), they insist that damages will occur as a result of the trademarks being approved.

The team claims that they’ve used the singular form of Braves on merchandise, and say that “Brave” is used when referring to a single player (as opposed to the whole team being the “Braves.”)

The Walt Disney Company and the Atlanta National League Ball Club are said to be currently involved in private negotiations.

The 3-D fantasy adventure movie – produced by Pixar and released by Disney – will hit theaters June 22. The kids flick follows a courageous girl from the Highlands of Scotland.

I have to say this is a story I never thought I would write. An American baseball team is taking on Disney and a princess. Yes, you heard me right. Apparently the new Disney Pixar film titled “Brave” about a princess that overcomes obstacles is too much for the Atlantic Braves to handle.

According to reports, the Atlanta National League Baseball Club (the owners of the Atlanta Braves) filed objections to Disney Pixar’s trademark applications for the film. Trademarks are specific when it comes to singular and plural forms of words and the Braves have only trademarked the plural. However, they argue that they have used the singular, Brave, in many endorsements and merchandising.

As a baseball fan, I can’t ever recall the Braves being referred to in the singular and I think I am intelligent enough to not get a Disney princess confused with a baseball team. Maybe the Atlanta Braves don’t think their fans are that intelligent?

Now I could understand if the Disney movie was about baseball. Then maybe I would give them some points on their argument. But a princess? Really? They can’t really be concerned about that. Maybe they are just worried about being called princesses by the other teams in MLB.

Now, to take this idea one step further, let’s look at another example of the use of “Brave” in a popular song. How about the “Star Spangled Banner?” Now, if I remember correctly, this song ends with the line, “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” America has always been known as the land of the free and the home of the brave.

So, according to the rationale behind the Atlanta Braves, this should either be changed because they hold the trademark, or America only exists in Atlanta? Oh no wait. This song was written before the Atlanta Braves even existed.

As a business owner, I understand the importance of trademarking but this is taking it to the extreme. Brave is a commonly used word in America to describe our soldiers, our police and our firefighters. It is a word that is not exclusive to a baseball team.

I have seen the movie trailer and I don’t see the title and immediately think of baseball, so I don’t think the Atlanta Braves have anything to worry about. Maybe they need to take their focus off of princesses and get their heads back into the game of baseball.

Deborah Braconnier is a former softball player and avid baseball fan. Working now as a freelance writer and Featured Contributor in NFL and Olympics, she brings her love of sports together with her writing. Follow her on Twitter @fwcdeborah.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Well, it might be strike two on titling Pixar’s fairy tale film Brave (previously called The Bear and the Bow). It now sounds like the Atlanta Braves have a bone to pick with the upcoming animated feature.

According to Stitch Kingdom, the Atlanta National League Baseball Club, owners of the Braves, is now filing an objection to many of the film’s trademark applications. However, trademark disputes are always specific to singular and plural forms, and the Braves do not possess any trademarks for the word “Brave.” So, in theory, they aren’t really entitled to anything.

Nevertheless, the organization believes that damages will still occur since they have technically issued merchandise in the singular form and often use the word to describe their individual players. One out-of-print book in particular was found over at Stitch Kingdom called If I Were an Atlanta Brave, but no other discernible merchandise seems to exist in the singular form.

The Walt Disney Company and the Atlanta National League Ball Club are currently in private negotiations to settle any standing objections.

Around the perimeter of the Atlanta sports world.

by Jason Kirk • Dec 20, 2011 9:21 PM EST

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