St. Louis Cardinals fighting Hamilton Cardinals attempt to trademark baseball team name and design in Canada

The Hamilton Cardinals baseball team is facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals, but not in a ballpark.

The MLB team from St. Louis, Mo., is opposing a trademark application the Canadian Baseball League (CBL) team filed before the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in 2023.

Hamilton team owner Eric Spearin described the MLB team's opposition as “just a big shock.” The teams play in different leagues, he said, and "our logo looks nothing like theirs."

The CBL team is "much smaller" too, with a home stadium that seats 3,000 for a 48-game season. 

International law firm Gowling Canada is representing the St. Louis organization in its opposition to the Hamilton application. Through that firm, the St. Louis Cardinals declined to comment. 

Spearin, who grew up in Hamilton's Dundas area, became the majority owner of the CBL club in 2022 and wanted to "freshen up the brand," he told CBC Hamilton. 

That included creating a new, "Hamilton-esque logo," featuring a cardinal holding a hammer like a bat, in reference to the city's nickname.

The Canadian Trademarks Database shows Hamilton Cardinals Baseball Club Inc. filed for three trademarks on March 7, 2023 related to the team name and design. Since spring 2025, the database shows St. Louis Cardinals LLC has opposed the applications.

Alexandra Mogyoros is a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's Lincoln Alexander School of Law, who teaches intellectual property law. 

"It happens," she said when asked how common disputes like this are. "That’s what our trademark regime anticipates."

To get a trademark, Mogyoros said, one has to prove the sign they're attempting to trademark is distinctive enough “to signal the commercial source of goods or services by looking at your