Report: Vegas Golden Knights trademark ruling is in

When the Vegas Golden Knights’ name and logo was officially unveiled to a lukewarm reception in November, it didn’t take long for fans to draw parallels between the team and the St. Rose College Golden Knights of the NCAA. In fact, the team’s initial request to trademark the name and logo were rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, leading to speculation that the Golden Knights party would be over before it really ever began.

Flash forward to this week and a ruling has finally come down from the patent office. According to a report from journalist Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Golden Knights have received approval to use its name for identification and competition purposes, but a ruling has not yet come down for the use of its logo.

We’re happy,” team owner Bill Foley said. “We got what we wanted. We’ve got ‘Golden Knights’ for hockey and we knew it would work out.

“We’re not worried about the other issue. That will work itself out in time. But we’re not paying anyone anything.” 

Interestingly enough, the team will continue to sell merchandise including jerseys, hats and t-shirts with their logo on it despite not having official permission to do so. It’s unclear how or whether this will affect a future ruling, but nevertheless it’s a gutsy move by owner Bill Foley. Perhaps he knows something that we don’t? In any case, what’s your take on this? Were you holding out for a name change? Or are you already cool with the Golden Knights’ name and logo?