New NHL Franchise in Utah Faces Legal Challenge Over “Utah Mammoth” Name
The new NHL franchise in Utah is facing a new legal challenge related to its team name. Mammoth Hockey LLC, a manufacturer of hockey equipment bags based in Portland, Oregon, has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court in Utah. The purpose of this motion is to “protect its established brand against use by the new NHL franchise in Utah, which adopted the name ‘Utah Mammoth’ on May 7, 2025”. This motion, filed on September 25, is a counterclaim against the owners of the Utah Mammoth. Previously, on August 1, Uyte and Smith Entertainment Group Hockey filed a motion to end any trademark dispute with Mammoth Hockey LLC, who, they claimed, had threatened litigation since the NHL team’s name was officially announced. This included a cease and desist letter. The NHL team was known as the Utah Hockey Club in its inaugural 2024-25 season after SEG purchased and relocated the Arizona Coyotes franchise to Salt Lake City. The team was renamed Utah Mammoth after more than 850,000 fan votes determined the name in multiple rounds of voting. Mammoth won the vote over Utah Outlaws and Utah Hockey Club. Mammoth Hockey was founded in 2014 by Erik Olson and Lars Huschke. The company claims that the NHL team’s nickname has created “confusion” and “undermines” its brand identity, arguing that online searches for “Mammoth hockey bags” now direct users first to the NHL team’s store. Mammoth Hockey also sells jerseys, caps, and water bottles.This is not the first trademark challenge Utah has faced during its naming process. Before Utah’s inaugural season, “Yeti” was one of six potential name options submitted to a fan vote in June 2024. It was widely considered to be the team’s eventual name, even by Utah players. However, the team announced in January that it would not proceed with “Yeti” or “Yetis” after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected a trademark application for “Utah Yetis” due to the “likelihood of confusion” for consumers with other companies and brands using the name. Among those parties was Yeti Coolers LLC, which manufactures drinkware, coolers, and apparel. Mammoth Hockey LLC cited that prior trademark dispute when filing its motion for a preliminary injunction. “Mammoth Hockey argues that the Utah Mammoth knew of its use of the brand for a long time, but never sought an agreement, unlike other brands whose names were considered, including Yeti, when similar conflicts arose,” they said in a statement. The team said in May that the names in the final voting group were free of trademark issues.When asked about Mammoth Hockey’s most recent filing, SEG directed the company to its original August statement: “The Utah Mammoth filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah seeking a declaratory judgment that the use of the Utah Mammoth trademark does not infringe any rights claimed by a third party. 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. We have taken this step only after careful consideration based on the defendant’s position.”
SEG
