Army taking stand on use of Golden Knights

The U.S. Army has decided to fight to protect its brand.

The Army filed paperwork last month with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging the Golden Knights’ use of the name for Bill Foley’s NHL team along with its colors.

The Army’s parachute team is known as the Golden Knights, and its primary colors are gold and black. Foley is a West Point graduate and a donor to Army Athletics.

In its filing, the Army claims it would be damaged by the hockey team should the team be granted permanent use of the mark.

The team responded, stating:

“We strongly dispute the Army’s allegations that confusion is likely between the Army Golden Knights parachute team and the Vegas Golden Knights major league hockey team. Indeed, the two entities have been peacefully coexisting without any issues for over a year (along with other Golden Knights trademark owners), and we are not aware of a single complaint from anyone attending our games that they were expecting to see a parachute team and not a professional hockey game.”

The team has until Feb. 19 to respond to the Army’s claim.

Peter Sadowski, the team’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, said fans need not worry about a name change.

“There is no danger of the team losing its name or logo,” he said.

Sportslogos.net first reported the news.