Utah Mammoth File Lawsuit Over Name in Trademark Battle With Hockey Brand

After playing their inaugural season in Salt Lake City under the generic name "Utah Hockey Club," the Utah Mammoth are gearing up for what will be their first season with a permanent name and logo.

There's just one problem: they're caught up in a bit of a trademark headache with a hockey bag company.

The Mammoth officially announced their name and logo back in May after a long process with multiple rounds of fan voting.

However, they've had trouble working out a trademark dispute with Mammoth Hockey, LLC, a company that manufactures hockey bags, and as such, the team has filed a lawsuit in a US District Court in Utah.

"Utah Mammoth and the NHL believe strongly 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," officials from the Smith Entertainment Group, which owns the team, said in a statement, per the Associated Press. "We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant’s position."

The Utah Mammoth have filed a lawsuit against a hockey bag company with a similar name. (Getty Images)

According to Deseret News, the NHL team is arguing that the hockey bag company doesn't own any trademarks and that their claims are based on the demonstration of common law usage.

Look — and I hope you're sitting down for this — I am not a trademark attorney. I'm not going to pretend to know the ins and outs, but here's what I do know: we've got too much stuff with names, and that makes it impossible to name new stuff.

Don't believe me? Try to start a social media account without having to add like half a dozen digits behind the name. Same deal.

The Mammoth ran into a similar issue with the name "Utah Yeti," which was known to be the favorite. That, of course, belongs to a cooler company.

I don't know how anyone could mistake a cooler for a hockey team, but it was enough of a concern to rule the name out.

So, it'll be intriguing to see how this situation plays out with a company that sells hockey gear. That could conceivably get way more confusing.

But, again, I'm not a trademark lawyer.

Just a very handsome writer who dabbles in trademark law on the side for fun.