KALISPELL — The Glacier Range Riders are in their third year of existence as an independent professional baseball club, but now they find themselves in an ongoing trademark battle with the National Park Service over one of their team logos.
In 2022 the Pioneer League's Range Riders filed for application for their logos with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the team was awarded use for all of their applications.
The National Park Service then filed an opposition to the arrowhead logo the team has used, claiming it was too similar to the NPS logo. The examiner for the USPTO then ruled in favor of the Range Riders that there would be no conflict and granted permission for use of the logos.
Since then, the National Parks Service filed another formal letter of opposition that the Range Riders organization is currently battling.
"It's something that we don't feel that we want to give up on," said Glacier Range Riders president Chris Kelly. "Even though that's the desired outcome for the National Park and DOI (Department of Interior)."
"So at this point, we're just going to continue fighting this as best as we can. Unfortunately, that takes a lot of legal resources essentially."
The National Park Service did not respond when contacted for comment.
For the time being there is no end in sight for the ongoing administrative appeal process between the Range Riders and the National Park Service, but until that process concludes the Range Riders will continue to brandish their arrowhead team logo.
The Range Riders are set to begin their third Pioneer League baseball season in May.
