Seattle Kraken to change name of bar and grill after local punk bar files lawsuit over name use

Concrete slabs laid in foundation of ice rinks at Kraken training center

Excitement continues as the Kraken training facility continues in Seattle. This week, all three rinks received the concrete slabs, a crucial step right before the ice is laid into the rink.

SEATTLE - The Seattle NHL team acted swiftly in response to a recent lawsuit filed by a local bar over the team's plan to name a new restaurant with a similar name.

On Friday, a spokesperson with the Seattle Kraken told Q13 News they would immediately change the name of the planned bar and grill at the Kraken training facility. The team on Saturday sent the following statement from Lance Lopes, Seattle Kraken EVP and General Counsel:

"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."

A Seattle punk rock bar is suing the city’s new NHL hockey team for $3.5 million, saying the Kraken’s choice of a name and plans to open a restaurant are harming the Kraken Bar & Lounge, which opened a decade before the team’s upcoming inaugural season.

The Seattle Times reports the bar filed a lawsuit Thursday in King County Superior Court.

The Kraken Bar & Lounge was founded in 2011 by William Knupp and husband-and-wife Kat Colley and Daniel Colley.

The lawsuit asks that the team be prohibited from using "The Seattle Kraken" name and any others similarly confusing with its own trademarks. It states that the team’s announcement of the coming practice facility restaurant run "is sure to ruin The Kraken Bar and its near decade-old, cherished image and reputation as one of Seattle’s last dive bars."

The suit says the punk bar’s trademarks are entitled to protections because they are distinctive of its goods and services and existed before the team’s July 2020 name announcement.

The NHL team did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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