Chaos to the Frozen North


As the University of North Dakota seeks a new athletic team name, former Bismarck (North Dakota) mayor Marlan "Hawk" Haakenson registered the trade names of Fighting Hawks, Nodaks, and North Stars to block these proposed team names from replacing the banned Fighting Sioux name. Haakenson told the Bismarck Tribune he registered them to keep them (the new nicknames) from UND.

"A nickname is not a trade name, unless the nickname serves as the identity of the individual or organization," UND spokesman Peter Johnson said. "This will not be the case for us. We do business under the 'University of North Dakota.'" Johnson said the university's attorneys aren't worried and the public vote will continue as planned. "UND is our trade name so what the former mayor did he certainly can do, but it doesn't affect what we need to do," said Johnson.

Sundogs is another name under consideration but is already trademarked by an insurance agency in North Dakota.

Source: Grand Forks Herald. http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/education/3839807-und-trade-name-registration-former-bismarck-mayor-wont-block-nickname


Blog Note: Should Mr. Haakenson's efforts succeed, LGDU would like to advise UND that Mountaineer, Jackalope, and Elk are available.

5 comments:

dggoddard said...

This thread has great potential. Pass the popcorn.

Anonymous said...

UND runs nickname searches like DU runs mascot searches. Just terrible.

DU WAG said...

I was going to say it was a nice gesture that UND would stop using a tribe name against the wishes of the tribe, then I realized they were forced into it. Maybe their new name can be the UND Backed into the Corners.

Twister said...

I'm not going to hold my breath as this debate continues. I'll be surprised if a nickname is decided on before the 2020 season.

I've said this before and I'll say it again--the old Sioux jerseys were among the best in all of sports. Especially the green ones they wore on the road.

Anonymous said...

Wait, is "Goons" taken?