SEN’s trademark bid for ‘Sydney Sirens’ sparks dispute with amateur ice hockey club
Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) has lodged a trademark application for “Sydney Sirens” after acquiring the Giants’ Super Netball licence last week, prompting a dispute with the long-established amateur Sydney Sirens ice hockey team in Sydney.
SEN said it would replace the failing Giants brand tied to Greater Western Sydney after the takeover, and the company’s NSW entity filed the trademark four days before the acquisition announcement. SEN chief executive Craig Hutchison said: “We’ll unveil a brand new brand, and look-and-feel soon for the wonderful Giants who we have been fortunate to acquire and partner with over the last 24 hours in the Super Netball league,” and added: “We see ourselves as positive disruptors in netball in terms of fun and energy and purpose and meaning and storytelling.” SEN declined to confirm the new netball team name: “We are exploring a range of options for the new name and brand of the team but are not in a position to provide any further comment.”
The trademark application’s fate will be determined by IP Australia and there is no certainty that the new Super Netball team will be allowed to use the Sirens name even if the application is accepted, with or without a challenge.
The Sydney Sirens ice hockey club, which competes in the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League, has warned it will examine its options. Team manager Natalie Caruso said: “We are currently looking into our options,” and noted: “Sydney Sirens Ice Hockey Team has a 20-plus year history having been established in 2005.” Caruso also described the club’s status: “We are a self funded team, without major sponsorship or support – unlike the men’s teams playing in the AIHL [Australian Ice Hockey League].”
The owner of the web domains sydneysirens.com and sydneysirens.com.au, identified as an ice hockey community member and coach linked to the club, told The Guardian they received notification last week that there was interest in acquiring the domains. SEN’s spokesperson said: “to our knowledge no one representing SEG [SEN stablemate Sports Entertainment Group] has contacted the club” about purchasing a domain.
SEN already holds other professional teams, including the Bendigo Spirit and Perth Lynx in the WNBL and the Melbourne Mavericks in Super Netball, and it completed a sale of the NBL side Perth Wildcats earlier this year at a valuation of $40m.
Naming overlaps between clubs in different Australian codes are not unprecedented — the article notes examples such as the Tigers for Richmond in the AFL and Wests in the NRL — but duplication of both a geographic identifier and a mascot could reduce search-engine and social-media visibility for the less prominent side. Interest in the Sirens name has grown in recent years after Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s The Odyssey and the release of the box-office smash The Odyssey; the siren is also a hockey cultural signifier for goals and the end of play. The name has been used elsewhere, with the New York Sirens joining the Professional Women’s Hockey League in 2023 and Cleveland’s new WNBA expansion team choosing Sirens for its 2028 entry, and potential US trademark issues were reportedly settled by conversations between the two US teams.
The immediate next step is the consideration of SEN’s trademark by IP Australia, and there is no guarantee — even if it is accepted, with or without a challenge — that the new netball team will be able to adopt the Sirens name.