Just a few weeks out from the reveal of their name and logo, the Vegas Golden Knights have hit a setback, as their trademark request was denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A USPTO document made its way across the Internet on Wednesday evening detailing the rejection of Black Knight Sports and Entertainment’s (the company owned by Vegas team owner Bill Foley) attempted trademark. The reason for the denied request? The Vegas mark shares too many similarities with The College of Saint Rose Golden Knights.
The 164-page document is mostly articles of random websites from Wikipedia, and even our own site!
The real meat of the Vegas trademark debacle is in the first page, however.
Essentially, the logos and stylizations are too similar. It’s baffling the NHL and Vegas didn’t go through the trademark process before announcing the name and logo last month. Yet, all is not lost. Later down, the document states the Black Knight Sports and Entertainment group “may respond to the refusal by submitting evidence and arguments in support of registration.”
The Vegas Golden Knights will suit up to play hockey as the NHL’s 31st team in the 2017-18 season.