For the second time this year, the NHL team in Utah is facing trademark objections from a pre-existing company over its new name.
First, it was the company behind Yeti coolers refusing to back down so the team could adopt its preferred Utah Yeti name. Now, the recently christened Utah Mammoth are facing similar objections from a hockey bag company.
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Per Deseret News, Mammoth Hockey, an Oregon-based company that has sold hockey bags since 2014, recently sent the NHL team a cease-and-desist letter requesting it stop using the name, turn over all unsold merchandise bearing the new brand and provide copies of its accounting. Both companies feature a mammoth in their logos.
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Smith Entertainment Group reportedly responded with a lawsuit stating it was the sole owner of all trademarks related to the name, which Mammoth Hockey has vowed to fight:
“Mammoth Hockey intends to vigorously defend the litigation recently commenced against it by Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League and protect its longstanding trademark used in connection with the hockey goods it has manufactured and sold for the past 10 years,” said Erik Olson, co-founder of Mammoth Hockey.
While Mammoth Hockey has existed for more than a decade, the News reports it does not maintain any active trademarks at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, making any claim against the NHL team based on common law, a more uphill battle than a granted trademark.
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This was why the Yeti name fell through for the Mammoth, as the USPTO rejected its trademark attempt due to a “likelihood of confusion” with pre-existing trademarks. Different companies can feature a similar name if they’re in clearly different fields (e.g. Dove beauty products and Dove chocolate), but the Yeti cooler company sold certain products, such as its apparel line, that could be impacted by an NHL team’s products.
SEG also reportedly noted a 2024 Facebook post and a 2025 series of LinkedIn messages and emails in which Mammoth Hockey seemingly showed support for the Utah Mammoth name choice.
The Mammoth are requesting a decision in federal court on their use of the name, via the News:
“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. We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant’s position. We are not able to comment further on ongoing legal matters,” the Utah Mammoth said in a statement to the Deseret News.
A second trademark fight is only the latest twist in a bizarrely protracted naming saga. The team formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes moved to Salt Lake City after Ryan Smith’s purchase of the team and played its first season there with the temporary Utah Hockey Club nickname. It held three different rounds of voting featuring 21 different possible names, including the incumbent Hockey Club, before finally landing on the Mammoth.
