Vegas Golden Knights Trademark Application Denied
The Vegas Golden Knights Announced the Team Name and Logo Just a Few Weeks Ago. The NHL and Hockey Fans Happily Welcomed the Vegas Knights But Now the Team Faces a New Dilemma. It Was Revealed That the Vegas Golden Knights Trademark Application Was Denied.
The Vegas Golden Knights debuted the new franchise’s team name and logo two weeks ago and now reports are saying that the team’s trademark application was denied.
On Wednesday, the team received a refusal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for their application. Furthermore, the USPTO said that the trademark was refused due to similarities between Vegas and the College of Saint Rose.
Several reports state #NHL expansion @GoldenKnights had name registration denied by @uspto; citing similarities w/ The College of Saint Rose pic.twitter.com/3TFzSXfH1S
— TSJSports (@TSJSports1) December 8, 2016
Vegas Golden Knights, No More?
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated that there is no concern over losing the trademark. Vegas has until June 7 to submit an appeal to gain approval of the trademark. Therefore, the team has plenty of time to get their case together before filing the appeal.
Daly stated that the NHL is facing this obstacle as a “routine matter” and that he is certain the trademark will come through. The NHL and the Vegas franchise have no intentions of modifying the team’s name.
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Currently, many teams exist at both a professional and college level that overlap in name or logo similarities. Vegas will submit their appeal and point out the name similarities they find. Evidence like this is enough to reverse their trademark refusal.
Furthermore, the USPTO stated that the franchise can include any evidence or arguments in support of their approval with their appeal. A successful appeal will result in an approved trademark.
Normally, one might not consider this a hindrance but Vegas has already debuted their name. While many teams might experience a trademark setback, many refrain from announcing the team name until it is legally certain.
A Matter of Time
Regardless, Vegas is certain that the trademark will come back approved. It is likely that Vegas will receive approval; many sports teams have name similarities on all levels.
Finally, Vegas has a lot of time to deal with the issue. June 7 is far off and Vegas has plenty of time to get an argument together. It will not be a difficult task to gather all the similar names existing between sports teams in their defense.
Trademark difficulties is a major setback for any team. If Vegas had not announced their team name they’d have less trouble to deal with. But it is likely that the Vegas Golden Knights will receive approval soon.
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Hopefully, this trademark difficulty turns out to be a minor setback for the Vegas franchise. One thing is certain, the NHL has no plans of changing the team’s name, therefore it will be a strong argument.
Time will tell as this setback plays out but the Vegas Golden Knights are certain they will wear the same name and logo on their jerseys when they take the ice next season.