New York Knicks
Trademark: New York Knicks
First Used: 1947
Registered: 2005
Current Owner: NEW YORK KNICKS, LLC [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark; non-traditional trademark; trade dress; configuration mark
Primarily Associated With: clothing [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:
The court is swept and we are ready for tipoff. Congratulations to the New York Knicks for advancing to the 2026 NBA® Finals! Before we tip off, let’s take a look at some trademark registrations celebrating the NBA’s championship game, including those owned by New York and San Antonio. Good luck Knicks!
The New York Knickerbockers (or “Knicks” for short) were founded in 1946 as one of the original franchises of the Basketball Association of America (which later became the NBA after merging with the National Basketball League in 1949). WTF is a knickerbocker you may be asking? The term was historically associated with New York’s early Dutch settlers and later used more broadly as a nickname for New Yorkers. It also refers to the old-fashioned knee-length pants, which is why the Knicks’ early logo featured “Father Knickerbocker” dribbling a basketball in a three-cornered hat, wig, buckled shoes, and knee breeches.
As one of the NBA’s oldest franchises, the Knicks were early league contenders, reaching three straight NBA Finals from 1951 to 1953 but losing each time. The franchise’s golden era came in the early 1970s behind Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, and Bill Bradley, with New York winning NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks later returned to the Finals during the Patrick Ewing era in 1994 and 1999, but again fell short both times. In 2026, and now led by stars Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony Towns, New York is back in the NBA Finals and hoping to capture its first championship in more than 50 years.
The Knicks owns trademark registrations for NEW YORK KNICKS® [4], KNICKS® [5], and KNICKERBOCKERS® [6]. Each word mark registration is for a variety of goods and services, including clothing, entertainment and educational services, professional basketball contests, and more.
The team also owns trademark registrations for the Knicks Logo design mark [7], New York Knicks Logo design mark [8], KNICKS Logo design mark [9], NYK Logo design mark [10], and Knicks Basketball Logo design mark [11]. Each design mark is registered in connection with different goods and services, including publications and printed matter, clothing, toys and sporting goods, entertainment services, athletic bags, and more.
And finally, the Knicks has one of the most iconic uniforms in basketball. The Knicks Uniform configuration mark [12] is a registered trademark for both entertainment services and clothing, protecting the unique orange and blue color combination and design.
Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our post on the 2025 NBA Finals featuring the champion Oklahoma City Thunder against the Indiana Pacers.
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 Stanley Cup.
Copyright © 2026 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] New York Knicks, NBA, https://www.nba.com/knicks/.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,035,311, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78506928&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] Knickerbocker History, NBA, available at https://www.nba.com/knicks/history__trashed/knickerbocker; New York Knicks, BASKETBALL REFERENCE, available at https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/.
[4] Id. at 2.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,982,943, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86804413&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 866,661, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72299636&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,768,640, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74313531&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,197,935, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75340969&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,988,809, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74410129&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,300,551, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75378773&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,653,146, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85305068&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,015,037, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74686277&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.