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On Wednesday, the New York Knicks plan to reveal the team name for its forthcoming NBA D-League squad playing in White Plains next season. Such an announcement will come at the open house of sorts the Knicks are hosting to help introduce their new minor league affiliate to the local community.
As a reminder, there were five names, that had previously been filed for trademarks, under consideration to be recognized as New York's new NBADL team. That said, one of the more popular choices amongst fans early on appears to be an unlikely final team name. For more info, click here, or continue reading below for a snippet from an earlier report from us at RidiculousUpside.com. Take a look:
The aforementioned potential team names are as follows: New York Plainsmen, the New York Hutch, the New York 914s, the New York Empire, and the New York 'Bockers.
While some of these names have nicer rings than others, there is in fact already an "New York Empire" squad that plays its games in the Big Apple. The team of the same name plays Ultimate Frisbee and has been a part of the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) since the start of the 2013 season.
When reached by RidiculousUpside.com, the organization had no comment regarding the Knicks' D-League (team) name.
Through a search of the USPTO's records, no trademark by the AUDL could be found. That does not necessarily mean the league does not have one. It does, however, suggest the trademark may be unregistered. According to the USPTO, one can still "establish rights in a mark based on use of the mark in commerce, without a registration. However, owning a federal trademark registration on the Principal Register provides several important benefits."