Montana minor league baseball team in dispute with National Park Service over arrowhead logo
A minor league baseball team in Montana is calling out the U.S. Department of Interior for “unwarranted and relentless” trademark claims in a battle over the use of an arrowhead logo
HELENA, Mont. — A minor league baseball team in Montana is calling out the U.S. Department of Interior for “unwarranted and relentless” trademark claims in a battle over the use of an arrowhead logo.
The Glacier Range Riders in Kalispell, Montana — members of a Major League Baseball partner league — applied for several trademarks and logomarks for the team that began playing in 2022. The logos include a mountain goat wearing a park ranger hat, a bear riding in a red bus like the Glacier National Park tour buses and an arrowhead with the letters “RR” in it.
The Interior Department opposes the use of the arrowhead logo. The agency filed a protest with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which rejected arguments that the baseball team's arrowhead logo would be confused with the park service's and create a false association between the two.
The federal agency then filed a letter of opposition last June, creating a legal case that team owners say will be costly to defend. A final hearing is tentatively scheduled for next year, team spokesperson Alexa Belcastro said.
The park service complaint notes that when the team revealed its logos it acknowledged that Glacier National Park was its inspiration.
Range riders protected the Flathead National Forest Reserve from poachers, wildfires and timber thieves before Glacier National Park was formed.
“The brand is really inspired by the founding of the national park service, the golden age when it was just getting started at the turn of the 20th century,” Jason Klein, partner with the sports marketing
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