Less than three weeks after unveiling it, Las Vegas’ new NHL team faces challenges to its name.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the trademark request for the Vegas Golden Knights name.
The office cited “likelihood of confusion” with the registered mark of The College of Saint Rose as the reason.
The school in Albany, New York also calls its sports teams the Golden Knights. The Las Vegas team will keep selling merchandise while organizing an appeal to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The response is due June 7.
In a statement to the Review-Journal, the team’s senior vice president said he “hopes people don’t overreact to this at all,” and a team statement said “office actions like these are not unusual.”