People tour T-Mobile Arena during an event to unveil the name of Las Vegas' National Hockey League franchise, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Las Vegas. The team will be called the Vegas Golden Knights. The NHL does not intend to reconsider the name or logo of the Las Vegas expansion franchise after U.S. patent authorities denied the club's trademark request. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo/John Locher
Republished December 08, 2016 - 4:14 PM
Original Publication Date December 08, 2016 - 9:55 AM
PALM BEACH, Fla. - The NHL does not intend to reconsider the name or logo of the Las Vegas expansion franchise after U.S. patent authorities denied the club's trademark request.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the league is reviewing the response from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which ruled the Golden Knights nickname was too similar to the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights.
Daly says the NHL considers it a "routine matter."
"Most importantly from our perspective nothing changes," Daly said after the first day of the board of governors meetings on Thursday afternoon. "The franchise will go forward with that name and that logo. We have every expectation we'll ultimately get that registration."
Daly said the league was surprised that the trademark wasn't registered and believed that the basis of the denial was without merit. The trademark office repeatedly cited potential consumer confusion with regard to the Golden Knights request, but Daly said the college in dispute did not even have a hockey program.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman added that many sports teams share nicknames, such as the Panthers (Carolina in the NFL, Florida in the NHL), Rangers (New York in the NHL, Texas in MLB) and Giants (San Francisco in MLB, New York in the NFL).
"From our perspective, it's much ado about nothing," Daly said
The NHL has six months to respond.
The Las Vegas franchise revealed the new name, colours and logo for the Golden Knights last month.
Daly says the league would offer "a detailed response demonstrating why we continue strongly to believe the Vegas Golden Knights mark should be registered in co-existence with the college registration, just as a number of other nicknames currently co-exist in professional and college sports."
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016