Utah HC Sounds Like It Is Having Trouble Solidifying A Permanent Name
The Utah Hockey Club is still working on getting its permanent identity sorted out, and it sounds like it may be hitting some roadblocks.
According to KSL's Ryan Miller, the team is running into some issues when it comes to securing trademarks for its preferred name, which at this point, everyone knows is "Utah Yeti" or "Utah Yetis."
That name has been a favorite among fans and some players have even alluded to that being the name that will replace "Utah Hockey Club," a name that was always intended to be a temporary place-holder.
However, that name is also used by a pretty popular cooler-making company, and that appears to be where Utah is running into some issues.
The "Utah Yetis" name was reportedly shot down this month due to "likelihood of confusion."
KSL says that the rejection came from the team applying to use its proposed trademark on all kinds of merch, which is something that the Yeti cooler company already does.
The Utah Hockey Club is reportedly having some trouble trademarking its preferred permanent name. (Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images)
I always find situations like these a bit confusing. We've got some team names in sports that appear in different leagues (Rangers, Cardinals, Kings, etc.) and there's no confusion. We also have like several dozen "Wildcat" teams in college sports, and we can still tell them apart.
I'm not sure how likely someone is to confuse a hockey team with a cooler company, but I guess we can assume it'll be zero if the name can't be used.
The team has three months to come up with evidence as to why there shouldn't be any confusion, but if it can't get Yeti or Yets to stick, it may have to go with something else.
I always thought sticking with Utah Hockey Club might be cool, but there's a problem with that name too, and it essentially comes down to the team not being able to trademark "Utah."
Other names that could be used — and crucially don't have major trademark issues — include Mammoth and Outlaws.