NWHL reaches agreement to resume use of Beauts' trademarks

NWHL reaches agreement to resume use of Beauts' trademarks

Published Aug. 24, 2019 8:37 a.m. ET

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The National Women's Hockey League has reached an "amicable agreement" to resume using the Buffalo Beauts' logos and trademarked materials in resolving its lawsuit with the team's former owners.

The suit was voluntarily dismissed in federal court Tuesday, a few weeks after both sides reached a tentative settlement.

NWHL lawyer Ben Natter referred to the dispute as being "resolved amicably" in an email to The Associated Press. He added the Beauts' trademarks have been assigned to the NWHL. A spokesman for former Beauts owners, Pegula Sports and Entertainment, confirmed the agreement.

The dispute stems from discussions following PSE's decision to relinquish control of the Beauts and return the franchise back to the NWHL in May.

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In late June, PSE sent a letter to the NWHL demanding the league immediately stop using Beauts' trademarked materials and destroy all team merchandise in its possession. The NWHL filed its suit a few days later saying the league has every right to use the materials and logos based on a licensing agreement reached a year earlier.

PSE is the parent company operated by Terry and Kim Pegula, who also own the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and NFL's Buffalo Bills. They became the NWHL's first private owners upon assuming control of the Beauts in December 2017.

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