Atlanta Braves Disputing Pixar's 'Brave' Trademark

The Dictionary.com entry on the word "Brave" lists ten different definitions. Number one is the most common usage: "possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance." Such as in Pixar's 2012 movie, Brave. Move down the list and number four is "a warrior, especially among North American Indian tribes." As in Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. And while former usage is more common than the latter, the baseball organization has been around longer, owns the trademark on "Braves" and they've "formally filed an objection to many of the trademark applications" Pixar is seeking for their upcoming film. Read more after the jump.

This news comes from the trusted Disney news source Stitch Kingdom, whose report states though trademarks differentiate between the singular and plural use of a word, the Atlanta National League Baseball Club, who own the Braves, believe "that damages will occur as a result of Disney's trademarks being approved as they have used the singular form before on merchandise and insist it is common for fans, media, et. al. to use the singular form when referring to a single player, whereas the pluralized form refers to the entire team."

"Damages?" Really? More damaging than encouraging your fans to mock a tomahawk chop and be potentially insensitive to an entire group of people? And how can being associated with a potentially massive, family blockbuster movie be bad for a baseball team? No one is going to show up to the stadium thinking they're seeing a movie or vice versa. It's a pretty obvious and harmless distinction.

According to the article, discussions are on going between Disney and the Braves about how to settle this dispute.

Last year, Disney changed the name of this film from The Bear and the Bow to the more economical, catchier Brave. One would assume, worse case scenario, that's always a fall back. But it probably won't come to that.

Do you understand the Braves' claim? Do you agree? Should Disney be worried?