Utah: The Land Of Hockey Lawsuits

You'd think that the Utah Mammoth would figure out how to settle lawsuits amicably after their whole conundrum with the "Yeti" name, but it seems there may be another lawsuit heading to court that involves the NHL team over their chosen name. While Mammoth is a perfectly acceptable name for a hockey team in most cases, there already was a Mammoth brand in the hockey world as Mammoth Hockey manufactures hockey bags and accessories. It seems that Mammoth Hockey isn't very happy that the Utah NHL franchise may be stampeding on their hockey brand.

According to reports, "[t]he owners of the NHL's Utah Mammoth have filed a lawsuit against" Oregon-based hockey equipment manufacturer Mammoth Hockey LLC over the name "Mammoth" as the equipment manufacturer claimed that "potential customers would confuse the two brands and fans of rival teams would not purchase its products". Mammoth equipment sent the Utah Mammoth a a cease-and-desist letter outlining that confusion "not long after the new franchise name was unveiled". Whatever discussions or negotiations between the two sides were happening have now stalled, and it seems a judge will need to figure out how to break the stalemate.

"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," Smith Entertainment Group said in a statement. "We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant's position."

While I get that the Utah Mammoth believe they will not harm the equipment manufacturer's business, it was Smith Entertainment Group's Mike Maughan who said of the Yeti brand back in January, "They have a unique and strong trademark on anything published Yeti or Yetis. We did not have a coexistence agreement with Yeti and therefore have decided to move on from that name."

Wouldn't that statement also apply to Mammoth Hockey LLC who have been designing and manufacturing hockey bags and accessories for a decade? They too have a "unique and strong trademark".

I'm not here to litigate this case for one side or the other, but if the Utah Mammoth are going to let Yeti off the hook for their branding that does not include anything hockey, they likely have less of a case against a company that is entirely in the hockey world. What makes me even more shocked is that the Utah hockey club can't find some sort of financial agreement with a company that makes hockey bags. I'm pretty sure the Utah Mammoth could find a use for Mammoth hockey bags, and they could even do a little promotional work for the manufacturer as a kind gesture as a good corporate citizen.

Of course, this may not be what the manufacturing company wants with its statement about fans of rival teams not purchasing Mammoth products, but you'd think that Mammoth hockey bags would stand on their own for their quality and design more than anything else. I can respect the Mammoth equipment company not wanting to take that chance, though, so it feels like this lawsuit from the Utah Mammoth is just pressure for the Mammoth equipment company to back down from their cease-and-desist demand. After all, how much money has the NHL and the Smith Entertainment Group spent on designing, registering, and using the Mammoth logo on merchadise?

Mammoth Hockey co-founder Erik Olson sounded undeterred when he spoke to the Deseret News, saying, "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."

If there's one team getting rich off all these lawsuits, it's the lawyers. I don't know what the outcome of this lawsuit will be, but I can't imagine the Utah Mammoth abandoning the name and logo they've been operating as since May, and I'm quite certain that the NHL won't want to eat all the merchandise and jerseys with the Mammoth logos on them. Whoever the judge is that presides over this case will certainly have a lot to consider before making a mammoth decision in this bone of contention involving Mammoths and Mammoth.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!