National Park Service, Delaware North Seeking Mediated Resolution To Yosemite National Park Trademarks

Talks between the National Park Service and DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite are under way to see if a resolution might be possible over who holds trademarks to The Ahwahnee Hotel, Curry Village, and other iconic properties in Yosemite National Park.

A federal judge presiding over the trademark battle has given the two sides until August 4 to deliver a status update on their progress.

"Counsel for the parties have had preliminary discussions regarding a non-binding mediation that, if successful, would dispose of all of the issues in this case. The mediation under discussion would involve both of the parties to this action as well as Yosemite Hospitality Corp. (Aramark), which is the company that replaced DNCY as the concessioner at Yosemite National Park on March 1, 2016," attorneys for DNCY said in a document submitted to the court earlier this month. "DNCY, the government and Aramark have each agreed to the concept of such a mediation and, accordingly, to endeavor to reach an agreement on a mediation procedure and schedule."

Initially, the lawyers thought an agreement on guidelines for mediation could be reached by July 21, but then sought another extension, until August 4, and the judge approved that new date on Thursday.

In a related matter, DNCY sought, and Judge Patricia E. Campbell-Smith approved, a protective order to keep under seal an Intellectual Property Valuation Final Report prepared in 2010. In seeking the order, the concessionaire argued that it "might suffer a competitive disadvantage were its confidential information to be disclosed."

The government and Delaware North, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite's parent, have been battling over Yosemite since 2014 at least. After DNCY lost the lucrative Yosemite concessions contract, Delaware North filed a $10 million-plus claim against the government last September. In that claim, DNC Parks & Resorts alleged breach of contract by the Park Service for its failure to require Aramark's subsidiary to purchase DNCY's intangible properties, including the trademarks, after landing the Yosemite contract.

The issue of trademarking words attached to properties in the National Park System arose in 2014, when the Park Service released a prospectus for a 15-year contract involving concessions at Yosemite. During the process, DNCY, which has held the concessions business in Yosemite since 1993, notified the Park Service that it held "intellectual property" rights in the form of trademarks attached to lodgings in the park and that it should be paid for those rights if it lost the concessions contract.

National Park Service officials have placed a $3.5 million value on the intellectual property rights attached to names of lodges in Yosemite, a fraction of the $51 million valuation claimed by DNCY for its intellectual property and other intangible assets at the park.

This past January the Park Service decided that, to avoid a legal battle that might interfere with the changeover in concessionaires on March 1, it would change the property names in Yosemite. Thus The Ahwahnee Hotel became the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, Yosemite Lodge at the Falls is being referred to as Yosemite Valley Lodge, Curry Village is now Half Dome Village, Wawona Hotel has become Big Trees Lodge, and Badger Pass Ski Area is being called Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area.

Interior Department attorneys had tried to wrest the trademarks from DNCY by appealing to the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, but in May that board suspended action on the matter due to the legal battle between the Park Service and DNCY in U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.

Interior lawyers had asked the trademark board to cancel the Yosemite-related trademarks held by DNC, arguing that the concessionaire had obtained them without notifying the Park Service or seeking its permission, and also that DNC had no plans for the marks after this past March 1, when a subsidiary to Aramark took over the concessions business in Yosemite.

More so, the lawyers argued that the marks created a "false suggestion" that DNC was connected with a national symbol, in this case Yosemite National Park. That suggested connection, they argue further, dilutes the value of the Park Service properties in Yosemite.

The battle has angered some park visitors, who have heavily criticized Delaware North. A Facebook page, Boycott Delaware North, was launched back in January to protest the company's actions at Yosemite.

Additional background on the trademark dispute in Yosemite and elsewhere in the National Park System can be found in these Traveler stories:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2014/12/what-value-ahwahnee-hotel-c...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2014/12/historian-says-delaware-nor...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/01/yosemite-trademark-discussi...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/01/us-code-might-allow-nationa...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/01/xanterra-parks-resorts-make...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/01/national-park-service-will-...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/02/new-prospectus-grand-canyon...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/03/xanterra-parks-resorts-aban...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/09/delaware-north-companies-su...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/10/new-yosemite-concessionaire...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2016/01/government-calls-delaware-n...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2016/01/dnc-says-national-park-serv...