Asian Lantern Festival Spurs Lawsuit Between CLE, Pittsburgh Zoos

CLEVELAND — The term "Asian Lantern Festival" is at the heart of a lawsuit between zoos in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The Cleveland Metroparks filed a lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court in Cleveland against its counterpart in Pittsburgh after the latter launched plans for an Asian Lantern Festival this summer.

The suit asks that the Pittsburgh Zoo immediately cease use of the Asian Lantern Festival name, issue advertising featuring a new name and pay damages to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

The Asian Lantern Festival has been a staple of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo since 2018. More than 1,000 lanterns, live acrobatic performances and culturally inspired cuisine come to the zoo for the event.

In April 2018, the Cleveland Metroparks signed an agreement with Tianyu Arts & Culture Inc. to present the light show. The two entities struck a subsequent agreement to bring additional Asian Lantern Festivals to the zoo.

Prior to naming the event, officials ensured no other entities were using the name Asian Lantern Festival, Cleveland Metroparks said in its lawsuit. In 2020, the organization used 41 percent of its advertising budget — more than $161,000, according to the lawsuit — on advertising the Asian Lantern Festival.

In 2020, officials from the Pittsburgh Zoo came to Cleveland to attend the Asian Lantern Festival, the lawsuit said. They were there to determine if they would launch their own festival in coming years.

Pittsburgh Zoo officials subsequently announced their own Asian Lantern Festival to debut in August. Cleveland Metroparks officials said they never gave permission for the other zoo to use that name, and the Pittsburgh show is not sponsored by Cleveland's festival, the lawsuit said.

The suit also accused the Pittsburgh Zoo of using photos from the Cleveland Asian Lantern Festival to create advertisements for the Pittsburgh show.

"Cleveland Metroparks emailed Pittsburgh Zoo, informed Pittsburgh Zoo that Cleveland Metroparks has cultivated trademark rights to Asian Lantern Festival and requested that Pittsburgh Zoo rebrand its event," the lawsuit stated.

When that letter went unanswered, the Cleveland Metroparks sent a cease and desist letter to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Subsequently, attorneys for the Pittsburgh Zoo responded, saying the event would not be renamed this year.

In a motion filed with the court, the Pittsburgh Zoo argued that the term "Asian Lantern Festival" was generic, used by dozens of events and could not be trademarked by Cleveland Metroparks.

"The term 'Asian Lantern Festival' is or has been used in the past three years for similar events at the Louisville Zoo, the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson Arizona, and the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, along with the related term 'Asian Lantern Spectacular' for a similar event at Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island," a motion filed by the Pittsburgh Zoo said.

A copy of the Cleveland Metroparks' complaint is below, as is a copy of the Pittsburgh Zoo's rebuttal.

Attorneys for both parties did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.