The Utah Hockey Club, still intending to unveil a new team name and branding next year, might have to pivot from not only the Yetis, but all six of the options it identified as finalists.
Shortly after an NBC affiliate in Utah reported the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the franchise's efforts to trademark "Utah Yetis" due to popular cooler brand dubbed YETI, The Athletic's Chris Johnston noted the other five named finalists—Blizzard, Outlaws, Mammoth, Venom and Hockey Club—were also refused.
According to The Athletic, Utah Hockey Club was denied because "the mark is primarily geographically descriptive." The Outlaws and Mammoth were flagged due to clerical errors but didn't have any conflicting marks like the Yeti.
Where does the franchise go from here?
Back in May, Utah's NHL team pitched 20 potential team names for a fan vote to determine the finalists. Fourteen of those names did not advance to the final round: Utah Blast, Utah Fury, Utah Powder, Utah Canyons, Utah Freeze, Utah Ice, Utah Frost, Utah Glaciers, Utah Hive, Utah Swarm, Utah Mountaineers, Utah Squall, Utah Caribou and Utah Black Diamonds.
The Athletic noted there were no conflicts found with several of those non-finalist names, including the Blast, Canyons, Caribou, Fury, Ice, Squall and Swarm. Perhaps one of those names receives new life with every finalist name currently in limbo.
Of course, there is still time for Utah to resolve the outstanding issues with the finalist names, including the Yeti or Yetis.
In its first season of existence, Utah has tallied 49 points in 47 games—good for sixth place in the Central Division.
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Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.
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