Vegas Golden Knights' trademark request denied by U.S. patent office

— -- The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday denied the Vegas Golden Knights' trademark request, citing a "likelihood of confusion" with the Golden Knights of The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.

"There are countless examples of college sports teams and professional sports teams with coexisting names, including Vegas Golden Knights and Clarkson Golden Knights, UCLA Bruins and Boston Bruins, U of Miami Hurricanes and Carolina Hurricanes, etc. We will plan on making these arguments and others in our detailed written response," the expansion NHL franchise said in a statement to Sports Illustrated.

"Office actions like this are not at all unusual, and we will proceed with the help of outside counsel in preparing a response to this one."

The franchise had just unveiled its name Nov. 22. It has six months to respond to the trademark denial.

"We consider this a routine matter and it is not our intention to reconsider the name or logo of this franchise," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement Thursday. "We fully intend to proceed as originally planned, relying on our common law trademark rights as well as our state trademark registrations while we work through the process of addressing the question raised in the federal applications."

This is the second issue related to the team's name that has cropped up since the unveiling. Reports surfaced last week that the U.S. Army, whose longtime elite parachute team also uses the nickname Golden Knights, might have an issue with the Las Vegas team's nickname. Team owner Bill Foley, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, said the name didn't cross any lines with the Army.

"I have complete respect for the US Army and all that it does for our nation," he told ESPN in an email.

"Our use of the Golden Knights is distinctive from the Army Golden Knights just as the N.Y. Rangers are distinctive from the Texas Rangers or the Arizona Cardinals are distinctive from the St. Louis Cardinals. There already exist the Clarkson College Golden Knights and many other Golden Knights across the country."

Foley previously told ESPN that he cleared the use of the nickname with the Clarkson University Golden Knights in Potsdam, New York.

Foley filed for trademarks on three names -- Silver Knights, Desert Knights and Golden Knights -- leading up to the unveiling of the expansion team's name.

ESPN's Scott Burnside contributed to this report.