Utah Mammoth in Legal Dispute Over Trademark
SALT LAKE CITY – The owners of the NHL team, Utah Mammoth, are in a legal dispute with a hockey equipment bag manufacturer, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Utah. The lawsuit focuses on a trademark dispute, where both parties have failed to reach an agreement.The team announced its new name and logo in May, following its first season in Utah. Previously, the team was identified as the Utah Hockey Club during its inaugural season after relocating from Arizona to Salt Lake City. Mammoth Hockey, based in Oregon, issued a cease and desist letter shortly after the new franchise name was revealed, claiming that potential customers would confuse the two brands and that fans of rival teams would not buy their products. Both the team and the company use logos in the shape of a mammoth and are associated with “Mammoth” and “hockey”, according to the letter. Mammoth Hockey was founded in 2014 and manufactures large equipment bags intended for hockey players.“Utah Mammoth and the NHL firmly believe that we have the right to use the name Utah Mammoth under federal and state law, and that our use will not harm the defendant or its business in any way,” Smith Entertainment Group officials said in a statement. “We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant’s position.”
Smith Entertainment Group
“Mammoth Hockey intends to vigorously defend the recently initiated litigation against it by the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League and protect its long-standing trademark used in connection with hockey products it has manufactured and sold for the past 10 years,” said Mammoth Hockey co-founder Erik Olson in a statement.
Erik Olson, co-founder of Mammoth Hockey
