Are there trademarks? Desert news

The Utah Hockey Club seems to have suffered a number of problems with at least a few possible permanent names for the team, now more than halfway through the first season in Salt Lake City.

The team submitted trademark applications for the last six names Utah Blizzard, Utah Mammoth, Utah Outlaws, Utah Hockey Club, Utah Venom and Utah Yeti, as determined by online voices of fans at the US Patent and Trademark Office last year.

Among them, Yeti or Yetis seems to have risen to the top as the preferred choice. But earlier this month the patent office issued an initial refusal for the use of the name Yetis, thereby referring to a danger of confusing, according to documents on the website of the agency.

The main goal is not only to prevent confusion among the buyer about the origin of the goods and/or services, but also protecting the registrant against adverse commercial consequences as a result of the use of a similar brand by a newcomer, wrote a Lawyer of the patent office.

Although the office did not mention the registrant, it is probably the popular open -air recreational brand Yeti.

Although a hockey team may sell other merchandise than drinking utensils and coolers, there may be a cross-over, which apparently does not play a role when it comes to trademarks. According to the patent office, the compared goods and/or services do not have to be identical or even competitive in order to be able to speak of a danger of confusing.

The team name Yeti or Yetis would be used for clothing, namely shirts, T-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, jogging pants, caps, hats, scarves, clothing from one piece for babies and toddlers, pajamas, bandanas, underwear, gloves, socks, short Trousers, suspenders, swimming trunks, jackets, jackets, bathrobes, trousers, leggings, sweaters, ear warmers, fabric bibs, belts, warm-ups, headbands and wristbands, depending on the application.

The patent office has also issued refusals on the same basis for the names Blizzard and Venom.

According to the office, the Utah Hockey Club has three months to respond from the moment that the non-definitive action was issued in mid-January to prevent the applications from being stopped.

When does the Utah Hockey club announce a name?

Asked for an interview or comments about the trademark issues, the Utah Hockey Club gave a statement to Deseret News of Chris Armstrong, president of hockey operations. He did not respond to the specific trademark issues.

Since the takeover of the NHL team in Utah, we have carefully evaluated the possibilities for the permanent identity of the team, while we worked in the complex world of trademarks and intellectual property. The passion of our fans was incredible and their input of invaluable value, he said.

It has always been our intention to have our identity such as Utah Hockey Club, the performance of the team and the great reactions of our fans have the conversation during our first season. We will continue to involve the community in the last phases of the naming and branding process and are fully on track with our plans to make a permanent name and identity known prior to the NHL season 2025-26.

Nhl.com It reported at the beginning of December that the deadlines are approaching for decisions about permanent brand identity. Making a new NHL shirt is a process of approximately 18 months, including design, approval of trademarks, purchasing materials and production of game and store versions. Utah was able to speed up the sweaters and fan equipment for the current season.

Armstrong told the website of the competition that the team is deeply engaged in the design process of the sweaters for next season, which goes together with the brand identity.

I would say we had to make almost a few decisions, Armstrong said. I would say early in the new year. Everyone has done their best to work flexibly or to stay away from hard and fast deadlines, because it is a complicated process, especially on the (intellectual property) side. We just have to ensure that we have everything in a row and make the decision before we make definitive decisions.

Every announcement or unveiling will probably take place after the season.

That is what we thought now, Armstrong told NHL.com. We said that in the first season we don't want to take the wind out. . . . We do not want to dominate that conversation with what we will or will not be next year.

Given the comments of Armstrong and the design and production deposits, it is conceivable that the team has already chosen a name or at least know which direction it is going.

It is also possible that the team goes with a different name than the six that came forward when fans voted. Although Ryan Smith, co-owner of the Utah Hockey Club, has often talked about listening to fans during the branding process, the online study shows that the final decision is at Smith Entertainment Group.

One thing is certain: SEG has said that Utah will be part of the name instead of Salt Lake City. Almost all NHL teams identify with a city instead of a state or province.

What about other names of the hockey team in Utah?

Outlaws seems to be free. The patent office found no conflicting brands for that name.

The trademark research lawyer searched the USPTO database with registered and requested brands and found no conflicting brands that would hinder registration … according to the documents.

The same applies to Mammoet.

In an opinion poll by Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics Last June, the Utahns was asked about the name they elected from a list of twenty possibilities that the Smith Entertainment Group mentioned in the first online Fan Survey.

Blizzard, Yeti and Outlaws were the top three. Venom was in the middle of the peloton. Mammoth and Utah Hockey stood at the bottom, ending the latter last.

Mountainers, Fury and Black Diamonds did not make the Fennen Survey, but completed the top six in the Deseret News/Hinckley Institute.

The patent office has requests for these three names, as well as others from a list of twenty. Here is the original list:

• Glaciers from Utah
• Utah Mammoet
• Utah Kariboe
• Utah powder
• Utah-Storm
• Utah ice cream
• Utah HC
• Utah freezes
• Utah frost
• Utah Bijenkorf
• Utah Zwerm
• Mountain climbers from Utah
• Utah poison
• Utah-gorge
• Utah Yeti
• Black diamonds from Utah
• Outlaws from utah
• Utah rage
• Utah explosion
• Snowstorm in Utah

Will the Utah Hockey Club remain?

As for Utah Hockey Club, there are seven trademark applications with that name in treatment, all with different logos, including the pucky logo with Utah in the middle, surrounded with hockey club and colored with mountain blue, stone black and salt white. Team currently used. (There were no logos in the applications for the other five names.)

The agency has not found conflicting trademarks, but has issued a geographically descriptive refusal.

Registration is refused because, according to the documents, the requested brand is mainly geographically descriptive for the origin of the goods and/or services of the applicant.

Because the primary meaning of Utah here is identifying a geographical location and the goods of the applicant from Utah, buyers will assume that the brand identifies the place where the goods and services come from.

In short, this means that an entity Utah may not use as a trademark.

Regarding the additional wording: Hockey Club in the brand, where Utah is combined with the terms Hockey Club, according to the patent office the general impression of the brand does not significantly change. The addition of generic or highly descriptive terms to a geographical word or geographical term does not detract from the primary geographical meaning of that geographical word or geographical terms.