Cartoon Atlanta Dream basketball player standing next to a whiteboard reading “Atlanta Dream” – representing a blog post about trademarks for the 2026 WNBA Finals.

Trademark: Atlanta Dream

First Used: 2008

Registered: 2009

Current Owner: WNBA ENTERPRISES, LLC [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark

Primarily Associated With: entertainment and educational services in the nature of ongoing television in the field of basketball and rendering live basketball games and basketball exhibitions [2]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:

Congratulations to the Atlanta Dream for advancing to the 2026 WNBA® Finals! Over the next few days we will be highlighting some trademark registrations celebrating the WNBA’s championship game, including those owned by Golden State and Atlanta. Good luck Dream!

The Atlanta Dream were awarded to Atlanta businessman Ron Terwilliger as a WNBA expansion franchise in October 2007, becoming the league’s 14th team when they began play in 2008. Where did the name “Dream” come from? The name was chosen in recognition of Atlanta’s rich civil rights history, particularly its connection to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. The team officially unveiled its name, colors, and logo in January 2008 after a fan naming contest that also considered “Flight,” “Surge,” and “Sizzle.”

The Dream struggled during their inaugural season, losing their first 17 games and finishing with a dismal 4–30 record. But the franchise quickly turned things around after selecting Angel McCoughtry with the first overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. Behind McCoughtry, Sancho Lyttle, Erika de Souza, and later Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta reached three WNBA Finals in four seasons (2010, 2011, and 2013), falling to the Seattle Storm in 2010 and the Minnesota Lynx in both 2011 and 2013. After more than a decade away from the Finals, the Dream have returned to championship contention under head coach Karl Smesko. In 2026, led by stars Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and newcomer Angel Reese, Atlanta finished with a 30–14 record before sweeping the Washington Mystics and New York Liberty in the playoffs. Now back in the WNBA Finals for the fourth time, the Dream are facing the Golden State Valkyries and hoping to capture their first championship in franchise history.

The Atlanta Dream has built a small trademark portfolio that reflects nearly two decades of the franchise's history.

ATLANTA DREAM® is a registered word mark for basketball games and related entertainment services, as well as clothing [4].

The team's original Atlanta Dream Shooting Basketball Logo, introduced in 2008, featured the team name in red and light blue lettering alongside a basketball shooting through the letter "A," surrounded by three stars. The logo is registered for clothing and basketball-related entertainment services [5]. Atlanta also registered a standalone A Shooting Basketball Logo, featuring the letter "A" incorporated with a basketball and stars, for various articles of clothing [6].

In October 2019, the Dream unveiled an entirely new visual identity, the franchise's first major rebrand since its inception. Designed by David Tann of Atlanta-based Tantrum Agency, the new Atlanta Dream Logo combines three elements into a shield: a rising phoenix, symbolizing Atlanta's rise from the ashes of the Civil War; a shooting star, paying tribute to the team's original logo; and a basketball. The Atlanta Dream Logo is registered for clothing and basketball-related entertainment services [7], as is a simplified Dream Logo featuring the same elements without the word "Atlanta" [8] and an A Logo featuring a stylized letter "A" and star within a shield containing elements of a basketball [9].

Finally, the ATL Logo features the letters "ATL" in stylized lettering with a star above the "L," and is registered for basketball-related entertainment services [10].

Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our post on the 2025 WNBA Finals featuring the champion Las Vegas Aces and the runner-up Phoenix Mercury.

Interested in learning more about other 2026 sporting events? Check out our 2026 posts on the College Football National Championship, Team USA in the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, Final Four, Masters (including the Masters 12th Hole and Masters Green Jacket), Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, and World Cup.

ATLANTA DREAM word mark trademark registration for entertainment and educational services

ATLANTA DREAM word mark trademark registration for clothing

[1] Atlanta Dream, WNBA, https://dream.wnba.com/.

[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,712,619, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77340815&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[3] Atlanta Dream, BASKETBALL REFERENCE, available at https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/ATL/; On the Cusp of History, the Atlanta Dream Found a Nifty Solution to Their Bad-Luck Problem, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, posted October 13, 2026, and available at https://www.si.com/wnba/atlanta-dream-wnba-finals-arena-problem; From Forced Sale to Finals: Dream Reflect the WNBA’s Growth, SPORTICO, posted October 15, 2026, and available at https://www.sportico.com/leagues/basketball/2026/atlanta-dream-franchise-history-angel-reese-finals-1234952228/; Atlanta Dream, BRITANNICA, last updated October 13, 2026, and available at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Atlanta-Dream.

[4] Id. at 2; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,712,618, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77340809&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,719,216, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77377007&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,719,217, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77377017&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,712,678, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77377437&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,381,239, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88659253&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,218,087, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88659261&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,577,146, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88659444&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,397,408, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88659448&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,577,147, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88659453&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,608,936, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88660506&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.