The 2024-25 National Hockey League (NHL) season officially kicked off on October 8th. The introduction of a new team based in Salt Lake City, Utah has made this hockey season especially exciting. The new professional hockey team, which picked up the players and assets of the Arizona Coyote’s Hockey Team, after its suspension, is currently going by “The Utah Hockey Club.”

As the hockey team was forming in early 2024, the Utah Hockey Club let fans vote on its new permanent name, including for use on merchandise. The clear front-runner of the six options voted on was the “Utah Yetis”.

As a result of this vote, the new team applied to federally register a trademark for the name Utah Yetis to use on team-related merchandise, like clothing items. Unfortunately for the hockey team, the application was refused on January 9th, 2025 (in the middle of the hockey season!).

Continue reading to explore the benefits of having a trademark and why it’s helpful to register one. We’ll also discuss why the Utah Hockey Club’s trademark application was refused. Lastly, we’ll look at what the Utah Hockey Club can do to skate around this legal hurdle and get on the ice!

What is a Trademark

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design (or a combination of all of these features!) that identifies goods or services in commerce. Trademarks could be things like the Chicago Blackhawks logo or the name of a hockey tournament, like the Stanley Cup. To be a valid trademark, a mark must be used in commerce to identify and distinguish goods or services from others in the market. A trademark also needs to be distinctive. A distinctive trademark for a word or phrase could be fanciful (a made-up word), arbitrary (a word that has no association with the good or service), suggestive (a word that may suggest some feature of a product), or in some cases, descriptive (a word that describes an aspect of the good/service).

For our story about the Utah hockey team, a bit more explanation on descriptive marks is required. To have a valid descriptive trademark, the mark must acquire a secondary meaning. This would mean that consumers over time associate what is otherwise a descriptive word with a secondary meaning that associates it to a particular source, such as a brand. An example of a descriptive mark acquiring secondary meaning would be the National Hockey League, which merely describes what it is (a league for hockey on the national level), but consumers automatically associate it with one specific league now.

Additionally, a valid trademark must be used in commerce. For a trademark to qualify as being in commerce, businesses must use it on goods or services for sale. So, for the Utah Hockey Club to have a valid trademark, it would also have to use its proposed trademark on merchandise or other products offered for sale.

What is the benefit of a trademark?

A valid trademark gives the owner exclusive rights to use the mark in connection with specific goods or services. So, by having a trademark, you can prevent others from using a similar name or logo on its products which would likely cause confusion amongst consumers. How would that happen? The trademark owner could try to prevent confusion by filing a lawsuit and claiming trademark infringement in court.

For example, if a new sports team or organization tries to use a similar logo or name to an existing team, fans may confuse the two. This would hurt the original team’s brand and possibly its business. The original team with a valid trademark could sue the new team for trademark infringement to stop them from using the logo or name if it would likely cause confusion.

Why Register One?

A business can obtain additional protection when it registers the mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registration is not required to have a valid trademark, but it creates nationwide exclusive rights for the owner’s use of the mark on a class of specific goods/services. If the USPTO grants a registration, it provides public notice on The Principal Register, a USPTO-run trademark database. This creates a legal presumption that you own a valid trademark mark for your goods/services. So, in a trademark dispute, like an infringement claim, a registered trademark holder does not have to prove that it has a valid mark. It also allows the owner to use the ® symbol on its trademark. So, for an NHL team that is hoping to be a national brand selling team merchandise, like the Utah Hockey Club, it makes sense to want the additional rights that come from registration.

Once a business applies for a registered trademark, the USPTO reviews the application. The USPTO will approve marks that are distinctive enough to identify goods/services and if there is no additional statutory bar to registration. This statutory bar to registration prohibits trademark registration for marks that closely resemble existing registered trademarks and would likely confuse consumers.

A Penalty Off the Ice: The Utah Hockey Club’s Trademark Refused

While registration comes with benefits for the trademark owner, the USPTO does not guarantee approval. The USPTO could deny the registration for a variety of reasons. Some examples are the proposed mark is not distinctive, or there is another existing mark in that same or similar class of goods/services that would likely confuse consumers. We will discuss some of these reasons below!

The Utah Hockey Club filed its trademark application for the name “Utah Yetis” to use on merchandise, including clothing. In January 2025, the USPTO rejected this application citing a “likelihood of confusion” for consumers. A likelihood of confusion means consumers might mistakenly believe goods/services come from the same source or that the two sources are associated with each other. The USPTO evaluates many factors in the likelihood of confusion analysis, like the trademarks being confusingly similar and the marks appearing on closely related goods.

In the refusal, The USPTO determined that “Utah” just describes the team’s location, so it would not be a component of a distinctive trademark. Since “Utah” is a descriptive term for the team, the USPTO did not consider it as part of the analysis when determining if there would likely be confusion.

However, leaving out “Utah” as a qualifier for “Yetis” created a different problem. Unfortunately for the team, the USPTO found that both the plural “Yetis” and the singular “Yeti” would not be acceptable trademarks, as the name would lead to a likelihood of confusion with already existing brands using similar names in the merchandise sector.

When the USPTO examiner conducted its search, it found multiple other parties with registered marks for the term “Yetis” for use on merchandise. One of the most well-known, existing trademarks mentioned in the refusal is YETI, the national brand often known for drinkware and coolers, which also sells apparel. YETI holds a valid registered trademark for use related to merchandise. YETI obtained this trademark in 2007. This trademark would be presumed valid since it is registered. If the USPTO were to approve the Utah Yetis trademark for merchandise, there is a high likelihood that consumers could be confused about the source of the goods for several reasons. The marks themselves are similar (they would have the same name, “Yeti”), and the marks are on nearly identical goods (brand merchandise). Imagine that you go to purchase “Utah Yetis” hockey merchandise without knowing anything about this situation. As a consumer, you may be confused and assume this merchandise is connected to the established YETI brand. So, the “Utah Yeti’s” trademark was statutorily barred from registration due to a likelihood of confusion with existing marks.

The action is “non-final,” meaning the USPTO is just providing notice of the reasons it cannot accept the current trademark application. This non-final notice gives the Utah Hockey Club 3 months to address the USPTO’s concerns if it still wants to use “Utah Yetis” as its team name. But, as of now, The Utah Hockey Club does not have a registered trademark for the name “Utah Yetis” to use on merchandise.

What Could the Utah Hockey Club Have Done Next?

There were still many options available for the new hockey team. If the Utah Hockey Club was adamant about being called “The Utah Yetis,” it could still have used the name. Remember, registration is not necessary to have a valid trademark; it just provides a trademark owner with more protection. However, this would have been risky. Why? Because the hockey team may have faced trademark infringement disputes by trademark owners who have trademarks for the name “Yeti.”

In a trademark infringement lawsuit, the person/business accusing a potential infringer must prove 1) that they have a valid trademark, and 2) that the infringer is using the same or similar mark on goods or services in commerce. If the accuser has a registered trademark, they automatically meet the first requirement and just need to prove a likelihood of confusion. So, let’s say a business with a registered trademark, like YETI, sued the Utah Hockey Club for trademark infringement. The hockey team would have likely lost the case since a registered trademark has presumed validity. Additionally, there is a likelihood of confusion that would allow the registered Yeti brand to prevail. (We know that a likelihood of confusion probably exists based on the USPTO’s refusal.)

The team also could have tried to use the name “Utah Yetis” as its team name, just not on merchandise. The trademark refusal was for the use of the mark merchandise, so there may have been a way that the team could try to trademark the name for other purposes and just avoid using it for merchandising. This likely was not ideal for the Utah Hockey Club since it’s likely that a sports team’s apparel is a big part of its revenue.

So, What Did the Utah Hockey Club Actually Do?

The Utah Hockey Club likely determined that attempting to use the Utah Yetis was not their best option. The Utah Hockey Club completely pivoted away from the fan-favorite name and let fans vote again for different names. According to an ESPN article, the Utah team attempted to create a deal to coexist with the YETI drinkware brand, yet they were not able to reach an agreement.

So, fans who attended four home games in late January and early February 2025 voted on three name options: Utah Hockey Club, Utah Mammoth, and Utah Outlaws. Fans also voted on two potential logos. As of February 2025, the new team’s name has not been announced.

As the NHL hockey season unfolds and teams begin to compete for the Stanley Cup Trophy, the league’s newest team still lacks a permanent name to rally around. While the team’s name remains uncertain, one thing is clear: the importance of trademark protection! This situation serves as a reminder of how having a registered trademark plays a vital role in protecting existing brands from newcomers that could create confusion. Moving forward, the Utah NHL team will need to thoughtfully consider how well its name resonates with fans and how to legally protect its new brand with a trademark.

Griffin Topel

Associate Blogger

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D. 2026