Cartoon Golden State Valkyrie basketball player standing next to a whiteboard displaying the words “Golden State Valkyrie” - representing a blog post about trademarks for the 2025 WNBA Finals.

Trademark: Golden State Valkyries

First Used: 2024

Registered: 2026

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 and radio programs in the field of basketball and rendering live basketball games and basketball exhibitions [2]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:

Congratulations to the Golden State Valkyries 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 Valkyries!

The Golden State Valkyries were awarded to the ownership group of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors in October 2023, becoming the WNBA’s first expansion franchise since the Atlanta Dream joined the league in 2008. The team officially unveiled its name and identity in May 2024 before beginning play at San Francisco’s Chase Center in 2025. So what exactly is a Valkyrie? In Norse mythology, Valkyries were powerful warrior women who selected fallen soldiers to enter Valhalla. The team embraced this imagery with its signature violet color and a distinctive winged “V” logo featuring the Bay Bridge, symbolizing the franchise’s ties to both San Francisco and Oakland.

Expectations for an expansion team were modest, but the Valkyries immediately made WNBA history. Under head coach Natalie Nakase, Golden State won 23 games in its inaugural 2025 season, setting a record for an expansion franchise and becoming the first expansion team in WNBA history to reach the playoffs in its debut season. The Valkyries were even better in 2026, finishing with a 32–12 record behind stars Gabby Williams, Veronica Burton, and Kayla Thornton. After defeating the Dallas Wings in the opening round of the playoffs, Golden State swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals to reach the WNBA Finals in just its second season. Now facing the Atlanta Dream, the Valkyries are hoping to capture the franchise’s first championship and complete one of the most remarkable starts in WNBA history.

In just a short two year period, Golden State has also put together the outline of a decent trademark portfolio.

GOLDEN STATE VALKYRIES® is a registered word mark used primarily for entertainment services involving basketball games and related programming, as well as clothing, including jerseys, shirts, hats, and jackets [4]. The team has also filed applications to register its VALKS nickname for basketball-related entertainment services [5], along with the abbreviated GSV word mark for clothing and basketball-related entertainment services [6].

The Winged V Logo design mark is registered for basketball-related entertainment services [7], and the Golden State Valkyries Winged V Logo design mark is registered for clothing and basketball-related entertainment services [8]. The Winged V Logo is full of hidden symbolism. The central design depicts the Bay Bridge, with its tower doubling as a sword and its cables forming wings. The five triangles on each side represent the five players on opposing basketball teams, while the 13 lines extending from the sword represent Golden State joining the WNBA as its 13th franchise.

The team also has a variety of Valkyrie-themed logos currently pending at the trademark office, with all filings covering clothing and basketball-related entertainment services. The Valkyrie V Logo depicts a woman wearing a winged helmet and cape while holding a sword [9]. The Valkyrie Standing Shield Logo depicts the full body and a shield [10]. Finally, the Valkyrie Helmet Logo features a close-up of the Valkyrie's head wearing a winged helmet [11].

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.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS word mark trademark registration for entertainment and educational services

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS word mark trademark registration for clothing

VALKS word mark pending trademark application

GSV word mark pending trademark application

[1] Golden State Valkyries, WNBA, https://valkyries.wnba.com/.

[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,264,823, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98547134&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[3] Golden State Valkyries, BASKETBALL REFERENCE, available at https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/teams/GSV/; How the Golden State Valkyries Made History in Their First Year, WNBA, posted September 15, 2025, and available at https://www.wnba.com/news/valkyries-made-history-in-first-year; How the Golden State Valkyries went from expansion team to the WNBA Finals in two seasons, YAHOO SPORTS, posed October 11, 2026, and available at https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/golden-state-valkyries-went-expansion-234415724.html.

[4] Id. at 2; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,255,270, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98547121&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[5] (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98547255, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98547255&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[6] (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98714478, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98714478&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98706161, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98706161&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,255,272, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98547245&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,264,824, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98547191&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 8,440,308, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98547226&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[9] (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98888668, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98888668&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98888677, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98888677&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[10] (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98888696, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98888696&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98888712, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98888712&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[11] (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98888726, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98888726&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch; (pending) U.S. Trademark Serial No. 98888739, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=98888739&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.