Greg WyshynskiOct 1, 2025, 06:39 PM ET
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
The NHL’s Utah franchise is facing another trademark challenge to its team name.
Mammoth Hockey LLC, a hockey equipment bag manufacturer based in Portland, Oregon, has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Utah to “protect its long-established brand against use by the NHL’s new Utah franchise, which adopted the name ‘Utah Mammoth’ on May 7, 2025.”
This motion, filed on Sept. 25, is a counterclaim against the Utah Mammoth’s owners. Uyte and Smith Entertainment Group Hockey filed a motion on Aug. 1 to end any trademark dispute with Mammoth Hockey LLC, which they said had made threats of litigation since the NHL team was officially named. That included a cease and desist letter.
The NHL team was known as Utah Hockey Club in its inaugural 2024-25 season after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise to Salt Lake City. The franchise was rechristened as the Utah Mammoth after more than 850,000 ballots were cast by fans in multiple rounds of voting to determine the name. Mammoth won the vote over Utah Outlaws and Utah Hockey Club.
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Mammoth Hockey was founded in 2014 by Erik Olson and Lars Huschke. The company said the NHL team’s nickname has created “confusion” and “undermines” their brand’s identity, arguing that online searches for “Mammoth Hockey bags” now lead users to the NHL team’s store first. Mammoth Hockey also sells shirts, hats and water bottles.
Olson declined comment when reached by ESPN.
When contacted about Mammoth Hockey’s latest filing, SEG directed ESPN to its original statement in August: “The Utah Mammoth filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah seeking a declaratory judgment that use of the trademark Utah Mammoth does not violate any rights asserted by a third party. 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.”
This isn’t the first trademark challenge Utah has faced during its naming process.
Before Utah’s inaugural season, “Yeti” was one of six potential name options put to a fan vote in June 2024. It was widely considered to be the team’s eventual name, even by Utah players.
But the team announced in January that it would not be moving forward with “Yeti” or “Yetis” after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected a trademark application for “Utah Yetis” because of the “likelihood of confusion” for consumers to other companies and brands that use the name. Among those parties was Yeti Coolers LLC, which makes drinkware, coolers and clothing.
Mammoth Hockey LLC cited that previous trademark dispute in filing its motion for a preliminary injunction.
“Mammoth Hockey argues that the Utah Mammoth knew of its long-standing use of the mark but never sought an agreement, unlike with other brands whose names were considered, including Yeti, when similar conflicts arose,” they said in a statement.
The team said in May that the names in the final voting group were clear of any trademark issues.
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