from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times,

A University District punk-rock bar is suing the Kraken for $3.5 million, alleging the NHL expansion team’s name choice and plans to open a Northgate Mall practice facility restaurant risks irreparably harming its brand.

A lawsuit filed Thursday in King County Superior Court states the Kraken Bar & Lounge, founded in 2011 by William Knupp and husband-and-wife Kat Colley and Daniel Colley, had begrudgingly tolerated the team’s name choice despite a parade of new patrons in “hockey themed attire” showing up amid its usual music clientele wanting to make the venue their hangout. But the final straw, according to the lawsuit, came when the team this month announced it will open the Kraken Bar & Grill at its planned $80 million training facility come mid-September.

The lawsuit for trademark infringement and tortious interference asks that the team be prohibited from using “The Seattle Kraken” name and any others similarly confusing with its own trademarks.

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