Kraken renaming practice facility restaurant, possibly avoiding legal battle with local bar

SEATTLE — A legal battle could possibly be avoided between NHL’s Kraken and The Kraken Bar & Lounge in the U-District as Seattle Hockey Partners announced Friday night that it is changing the name of its practice facility restaurant, according to a statement sent to KIRO 7.

The University District punk rock bar said it was suing Seattle’s new hockey team for $3.5 million, accusing it of trademark infringement and alleging that the organization is harming its brand.

According to court documents filed Thursday afternoon, the punk rock bar said the NHL’s new team name, Seattle Kraken, has caused confusion, leading some people to think the bar is affiliated with the team. The suit said owners have been building the brand, creating merchandise and advertising since 2011.

The bar had long been using the name before the NHL decided to bring a team to the Emerald City. Last year in July of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, owners of the dive bar said they were barely hanging on.

Then the NHL announced the name of Seattle’s new hockey team — the Seattle Kraken.

The owners said there was immediate confusion from customers and found the story started getting pushed out online.

“When we can have live music again, touring bands need to be able to find us. We are already buried. It used to be when you look up Seattle Kraken you’d find us. Now it’s impossible,” said Kat Colley, one of the owners of the bar.

Then a couple of weeks ago, the people behind the hockey team announced it’s planning to open a restaurant called “The Kraken Bar & Grill” at the Northgate training facility just over 3 miles away. That pushed the owners of the dive bar to file a lawsuit.

“It didn’t feel real. We saw this, and we were like no way — it’s exactly the same. It’s exactly the same!” Colley said.

In the statement to KIRO 7, Lance Lopes, the Seattle Kraken executive vice president and general counsel wrote, “When we were made aware of the objection to the name, we started making plans to rebrand the future bar and grill. We pride ourselves on being advocates for our community — especially small businesses — and will no longer use the name Kraken Bar and Grill. We look forward to announcing the restaurant’s new name in the near future. We salute the mission of the Kraken Bar and Lounge and wish them well in the future.”

Mark Walters, the lawyer for The Kraken Bar & Lounge, responded with: “The team’s announcement is a good start, but it doesn’t undo the damage done to the bar’s brand which is now mistakenly linked to the Team’s name. And it’s unclear how the team will be able to rebrand their planned bar in a manner that does not use the word “Kraken” when it will be appended to the Team’s practice facility. In short, The Kraken Bar & Lounge faces a host of challenges to preserve its brand identity even if the Team picks a new name for its planned bar.”

Cox Media Group