The fight over who gets to use the Poteet Strawberry Festival name and who runs the show at this year's event has landed in federal court in San Antonio, just days before thousands of visitors are expected to roll into town.
On Wednesday, representatives for the Poteet Strawberry Festival Association and the Poteet Rotary Club appeared before U.S. District Judge Fred Biery as the Rotary Club asked to lift a temporary restraining order that has kept it out of festival activities. With the festival set to start Friday, the standoff is not just about bragging rights, it is about who gets to collect donations and operate key fundraisers that help pay for scholarships and support dozens of local nonprofits.
According to News 4 San Antonio, the Rotary Club asked the federal court to take up its request regarding the temporary restraining order after an Atascosa County hearing was put on hold when the club removed the association's state case to federal court. Court records show the Rotary Club filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on April 2. Public dockets on Justia list related filings under case number 5:2026cv02201.
What’s at Stake
The festival is scheduled for this Friday through Sunday, and organizers describe the weekend as a major fundraising engine for the tiny town south of San Antonio, per the Poteet Strawberry Festival website. The event traditionally draws roughly 125,000 visitors and the association says proceeds fund scholarships and dozens of local groups, according to San Antonio Express-News. Organizers warn that expensive litigation could start eating into the money that would otherwise go to grants and scholarships.
The Dispute
At the heart of the split are competing claims over who owns the festival name. The Poteet Strawberry Festival Association points to five federal trademark registrations it obtained in the 1990s. The Rotary Club counters that it founded the first festival in 1948 and never assigned its rights to the association.
San Antonio lawyer Robert McRae told San Antonio Express-News, “Those registrations are invalid because they never had the right to register them,” and he has asked a federal judge to declare the marks void so the club can participate.
The association, for its part, says it suspended the Rotary Club's involvement in part over an alleged $30,000 Pepsi bill and questions about the club's nonprofit paperwork, and it has warned that the legal fight is putting this year's fundraising at risk.
Legal Implications
Claims that a party committed fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can put trademark registrations in jeopardy, but federal judges also look at contracts and years of historical practice when sorting out who owns what. Both sides now have active filings in the Western District of Texas, and the public docket indicates a judge could decide a short term remedy such as a temporary restraining order before digging into broader trademark or contract questions. Court listings for the cases are publicly viewable on Justia.
What Happens Next
A federal judge was expected to rule on the Rotary Club's request this week, a decision that could settle who is allowed to run major fundraising activities on the festival grounds, at least for now. Festival organizers say tickets and the lineup are posted on the event site and many vendors still plan to attend, giving locals hope the weekend will go forward even as lawyers argue over ownership in court.
Both sides have told reporters they would prefer to work together, but each has asked the court for a clear ruling on who controls the festival name and the fundraising machinery that comes with it.
