Pepperdine University filed a lawsuit last month against Warner Bros. Entertainment in Burbank and Netflix Inc. for trademark infringement.

The 36-page legal action against the two companies was filed Feb. 20 in U.S. District Court and seeks injunctive relief to prevent further use of the Malibu school’s trademarks as well as unspecified monetary damages for the “infringement and harm caused by the misappropriation of the university’s brand,” according to a release from Pepperdine.

Specifically, Pepperdine said that Netflix and Warner Bros. used its trademarked name, the Waves, its colors, blue and orange, its hometown of Los Angeles and the year it was founded as an institution in the new comedy series “Running Point.”

“By misusing the Pepperdine marks, the Defendants have falsely represented to the relevant public that Pepperdine endorses or is affiliated with ‘Running Point,’ creating confusion about whether ‘Running Point’ is associated with, sponsored by, or approved by Pepperdine, which it is not,” according to the lawsuit.

“Given this flagrant disregard for our intellectual property and the damage to our institutional identity, together with Netflix’s and Warner Bros.’ continued refusal to resolve Pepperdine’s concerns, we believe it necessary to seek court intervention,” Sean Burnett, the chief marketing officer at Pepperdine, said in a statement.

Other resolution attempts made by the school

The lawsuit follows multiple attempts by the university to resolve these issues amicably through outreach to Netflix and Warner Bros., to no help from the companies, according to Pepperdine.

Attempts to reach a representative of both companies for comment about the lawsuit were not successful.

On Feb. 26, the court declined Pepperdine’s request for a temporary restraining order against Warner Bros. and Netflix.

“Running Point” began airing on the streaming service on Feb. 27.

The series is a comedy that follows a woman (played by Kate Hudson) appointed as president of a Los Angeles basketball team called the “Waves.” 

The “Waves” name has been used by Pepperdine for more than 85 years.

“While Defendants could have chosen any number of names for their purportedly fictional team, and used any number of color combinations for their uniforms, they chose instead to usurp Pepperdine’s trademarked name in its registered field of use for a team in Pepperdine’s home town, they chose to appropriate Pepperdine’s color palette, and they even chose to promote a specific player number – the number 37, reflecting the year of Pepperdine’s founding – that as Defendants well know is the number worn by Pepperdine’s mascot, is the number on ‘Waves’ merchandise sold by Pepperdine, and is promoted broadly,” the lawsuit said.

The university has also expressed concerns about some of the series’ themes which are inconsistent with Pepperdine’s “Christian values and reputation” according to the release from the school.

“Defendants’ references to substance use, violence, sexually explicit imagery and dialogue and foul language in conjunction with their improper use of Pepperdine’s Asserted Trademarks, links the themes of the show to Pepperdine in inappropriate and disparaging ways, harming Pepperdine’s reputation and belittling the upstanding values it upholds,” the lawsuit said.

The lead attorneys for Pepperdine in the case are Andrei Iancu, Robert A. Sacks and Emily Olsen of New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell’s Century City office.