The U.S. Army is renewing its battle with the Vegas Golden Knights over their team name, but the club insists it's done nothing wrong.
On Wednesday, the Department of the Army filed a notice of opposition against Black Knight Sports and Entertainment - the company that owns and operates the NHL expansion franchise - with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office over the use of the club's moniker, as obtained by SportsLogos.net's Chris Creamer.
The team fired back Thursday.
"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," the NHL squad said in a statement, via Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt.
"Indeed, the two entities have been coexisting without any issues for over a year (along with several 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 the parachute team and not a professional hockey game," the Golden Knights added.
"That said, in light of the pending trademark opposition proceedings, we will have no further comment at this time and will address the Army's opposition in the relevant legal forums."
Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, a U.S. Military Academy graduate, said in the past that he initially wanted to call the team the Black Knights, the name used by Army's athletic program, but settled on Golden Knights because that's the name of the school's parachute team.
The NHL club has until Feb. 19 to respond to the notice of opposition.
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