“This case is not about silencing criticism.”

So begins the latest filing by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its ongoing federal lawsuit alleging trademark infringement against the long-running “Mormon Stories” podcast.

“The church’s claims do not target the content of defendants’ speech at all,” states the court document filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Utah. “Nor is it about ownership or control of the word Mormon.”

Instead, the case is “about eliminating the confusion caused by defendants’ mimicking the church’s trademarks and using its copyrighted images without permission.”

[Read about how the church’s rebrand could affect its case here.]

The show’s logos, fonts, images, color schemes and “other branding” — in combination with its use of “Mormon” in its title — are enough, the church’s attorneys argue, to confuse some into thinking the podcast represents an official product of the global faith.

“This is intentional,” reads the filing, citing an instance in a 2022 episode in which a guest informed host John Dehlin he began listening because he believed it was put out by the church.

The filing describes the podcast host as responding by saying, “‘That was not why I named it that’” before adding, “‘OK, maybe it was a little bit why I named it that.’’’

The disclaimers the podcast provides about the independent nature of the show, known for its criticisms of church leaders, teachings and policies, are tucked away, the document further complains.

In response to Thursday’s filing, Dehlin told The Salt Lake Tribune, “Our legal team and I just received the response a few minutes ago and are digesting it. If we have any public statements, we will make them at an appropriate time on mormonstories.org.”

Church spokesperson Doug Andersen reiterated the filing’s arguments in a brief statement issued Thursday at church headquarters.

“The church has always acknowledged Mr. Dehlin’s First Amendment right to criticize the church, and this case is not about preventing people from using the word Mormon,” Andersen said. “It concerns the use of church-protected names, images and design elements, which, in the collective, create confusion when it comes to knowing whether the content is affiliated with the church.”

Dehlin, who was excommunicated in 2015 for “apostasy,” previously took steps to address church concerns, dropping the light rays on “Mormon Stories” products and swapping a navy blue color scheme — used by the faith — for orange.

The Utah-based faith sued Dehlin and the organization that houses the show in April. In their opening salvo, the church’s lawyers argued the platform’s use of the term “Mormon” and church-trademarked imagery was a purposeful ruse meant to mislead listeners into thinking the podcast is a product of the global faith.

Dehlin’s team, meanwhile, has zeroed in on what it views as the heart of the case — the freedom to use the “Mormon” moniker.

In their June counterclaim, Dehlin’s lawyers accused the church of weaponizing trademark and copyright laws to silence the podcast. Bolstering their argument were two amicus briefs submitted in August, one by the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and the other by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The church’s latest filing — opposing Dehlin’s motion to dismiss the case — rejects this framing.

“Dehlin can criticize the church as he chooses, and he can use Mormon in connection with his podcast,” it reads. “But federal law prohibits defendants from pilfering the church’s copyrighted images or using its trademarks in ways that are likely to cause people to believe that defendants or their content are associated with the church.”