NHL’s Utah Team Can’t Be the Yetis Because of YETIs

The NHL’s Utah hockey franchise, aptly dubbed the Utah Hockey Club as it awaits its official name, will have to hold out a bit longer before landing on its new moniker. 

The franchise applied for the “Yeti” name only to be rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The reason? That name is associated with the mega-brand YETI coolers and its endless list of accessories. Because of that, the governing office isn’t going to let the hockey team take on the name that had long been rumored.

The ‘Utah Yetis’ Won’t Be Playing Hockey Anytime Soon Either

“In the present case, the wording ‘Utah’ in the applied-for mark is merely descriptive of or generic for applicant’s goods,” the USPTO wrote accordingly KSL. “Thus, this wording is less significant in terms of affecting the mark’s commercial impression, and renders the wording ‘YETIS’ the more dominant element of the mark.”

Like many sports clubs, the organization even tried to get the “Yetis” approved but the pluralized version also fell short. 

It’s unfortunate because Utah Yetis had a cool ring to it. That’s a pretty badass hockey team name, to be honest. Unfortunately, the team will likely have to find a new name. It won’t have to search too far as a fan vote held last year narrowed the choice down to six names. Yeti was one of them (as was the current but boring Hockey Club name) which leaves four left: Blizzard, Mammoth, Outlaws, and Venom. 

My vote is for Blizzard and use a Yeti as the mascot. You get the best of both worlds. And maybe even get YETI coolers to sponsor the team. Win-win!

Currently, the inaugural season for Utah – formerly the Arizona Coyotes – isn’t going great. The team is sixth in the Central and has about five teams in front of them for the final wild card spot. So using the right to a potentially cool name like the Yeti is just another speed bump in their debut season. 

But their beer sales are great!