Carolina Hurricanes
Trademark: Carolina Hurricanes
First Used: 1997
Registered: 2000
Current Owner: HURRICANES HOCKEY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark
Primarily Associated With: entertainment services, namely, providing professional hockey exhibitions [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:
The ice is resurfaced (likely by a ZAMBONI® brandice resurfacing machine) and the puck is ready to be dropped. Congratulations to the Hurricanes for advancing to the 2026 STANLEY CUP® finals! This week we will be highlighting some NHL related trademark registrations, including those owned by the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes. Good luck, Carolina!
The Carolina Hurricanes franchise began as the New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association in 1972, before joining the NHL in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers. The Whalers developed one of hockey’s most memorable identities, including its famous green-and-blue logo, but struggled to build lasting on-ice success in Hartford. In 1997, the franchise relocated to North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes, initially playing in Greensboro before moving to Raleigh and settling into what is now Lenovo Center.
The Hurricanes reached their first Stanley Cup Final in 2002, falling to the Detroit Red Wings. In 2006 Carolina finally broke through, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to capture the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship (and the first major professional sports team from North Carolina to win a title!). After years of playoff frustration since that championship, the Hurricanes are back in the Stanley Cup Final in 2026.
CAROLINA HURRICANES® [4] and HURRICANES® [5] word marks are registered trademarks for entertainment services, namely, providing professional hockey exhibitions and a variety of clothing types.
The team also uses a variety of logos, including primarily the Hockey Stick Logo design mark [6] and the Hurricane Logo design mark [7], both also registered for entertainment services, namely, providing professional hockey exhibitions and a variety of clothing types. In more recent history, the C Logo design mark [8] is registered for baseball caps and clothing and the CANES Logo design mark [9] is registered for beer “to commemorate a professional ice hockey team.” And finally, a logo for the team mascot, the Stormy the Ice Hog design mark [10], is also a registered trademark for organizing exhibitions for children's hockey games and fan clubs for a professional sports team.
Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our post on the 2025 Stanley Cup, featuring the featuring the Edmonton Oilers and champion Florida Panthers.
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), and NBA Finals.
Copyright © 2026 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] Carolina Hurricanes, NHL, https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,336,473, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75285819&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] Carolina Hurricanes, HOCKEY REFERENCE, available at https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/CAR/history.html; Carolina Hurricanes, BRITTANICA, last updated May 28, 2026, and available at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Carolina-Hurricanes; Carolina Hurricanes, EBSCO, published in 2024, and available at https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/sports-and-leisure/carolina-hurricanes.
[4] Id. at 2; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,254,170, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75286434&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,562,074, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75286432&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,500,591, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75286433&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,215,407, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75306074&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,215,408, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75306561&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,241,956, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75306557&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,243,540, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75306343&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,263,825, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97348814&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 7,136,286, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=97368578&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,666,958, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76071756&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.