Smith Entertainment Group, the owners of the NHL’s Utah Mammoth, filed a federal lawsuit against a hockey equipment company to escalate their trademark dispute.

The franchise formerly known as the Coyotes moved from Arizona to Utah before the 2024-25 NHL season and spent its first season there known as the Utah Hockey Club. In May, the team revealed its permanent name to be the Mammoth, with an image of a woolly mammoth’s face protruding from a mountain serving as the logo.

The equipment company, Mammoth Hockey, sent a cease-and-desist letter arguing that the Utah team name could lead to consumer confusion in the market. Mammoth Hockey sells oversized hockey gear bags, though its logo and colors do not resemble Utah’s.

Smith Entertainment Group disagrees that the Mammoth team name hurts Mammoth Hockey’s business dealings.

Both parties released statements to the Deseret News in Salt Lake City on Thursday.

“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,” the team’s statement said. “We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant’s position. We are not able to comment further on ongoing legal matters.”

Mammoth Hockey co-founder Erik Olson wrote in a statement to the Deseret News, “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.”

–Field Level Media