Utah Mammoth in Legal Dispute Over Trademark
SALT LAKE CITY – The owners of the Utah Mammoth NHL team have filed a lawsuit against a hockey equipment bag manufacturer in an attempt to resolve a trademark dispute. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in Utah, indicates that the Utah Mammoth and Mammoth Hockey LLC have reached an impasse in the fight for the brand.The team announced its new name and logo in May, following its first season in Utah. Previously, the team used the name Utah Hockey Club during its first 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, arguing 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 have mammoth-shaped logos and are associated with “Mammoth” and “hockey,” according to the letter. Mammoth Hockey was launched in 2014 and manufactures large-sized 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 plaintiff or its business in any way,” Smith Entertainment Group officials said in a statement. “We have taken this step only after careful consideration based on the plaintiff’s position.”
“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,” stated Erik Olson, co-founder of Mammoth Hockey, in a statement.
