It could be months before any decision is reached on whether the Majestic Yosemite Hotel will regain its original name, The Ahwahnee/Kurt Repanshek file
It could easily be mid-2019 before any clarity is shed on the dispute between DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite and the National Park Service over who owns the rights to such iconic Yosemite National Park names as The Ahwahnee, Curry Village, and the Wawona Hotel.
Court documents in the standoff that dates to 2014 show that the two sides have until July 23, 2019, to report back to U.S. District Judge Patricia E. Campbell-Smith on whether they are optimistic that they can negotiate a settlement.
The issue of trademarking words attached to properties in the National Park System arose in 2014 year when the Park Service released a prospectus for a 15-year contract involving lodging and dining concessions at Yosemite. During the process, DNC, which had held the concessions business in Yosemite since 1993, notified the Park Service that it owned "intellectual property" rights in the form of trademarks attached to lodgings in the park.
If Delaware North was unsuccessful in bidding for the new contract, the company said at the time, it would seek $51 million to relinquish those marks, and other intellectual property, to the new concessionaire. That led the Park Service to say it would allow a concessionaire other than Delaware North to propose name changes to the facilities, which in some cases have been in operation for more than a century under the same name.
DNC did indeed lose the contract.
After DNC lost the concessions contract, the Buffalo, New York, company filed a $10 million-plus claim against the government. In that claim, DNC alleged breach of contract by the Park Service for its failure to require Yosemite Hospitality, LLC, an Aramark subsidiary that won the contract, to purchase DNC's intangible properties.
Yosemite National Park officials, looking to avoid a costly trademark fight with DNC Parks & Resorts, announced in January 2016 that they would change the names of iconic lodges in the park. The Ahwahnee Hotel, for instance, would be known going forward as the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. The new names were chosen in order to minimize the impact on visitors, the park announced, and include:
● Yosemite Lodge at the Falls to become: Yosemite Valley Lodge
● The Ahwahnee to become: The Majestic Yosemite Hotel
● Curry Village to become: Half Dome Village
● Wawona Hotel to become: Big Trees Lodge
● Badger Pass Ski Area to become: Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area
DNC Parks & Resorts officials quickly fired back, charging the Park Service with "using the beloved names of places in Yosemite National Park as a bargaining chip in a legal dispute between DNCY and the NPS involving basic contract rights."
Yosemite officials said they had no option but to change the names with the transition in concessionaires to Yosemite Hospitality, LLC.
By July 2019, the judge wants the two sides to either announce a settlement plan, or say whether they intend to file motions arguing why each should win the case.
Comments
They certainly bought assets, but it was mostly physical assets such as vehicles, furniture, restaurant equipment, bedding, etc. If you check the trademark registrations, there might have been two registrations made (The Ahwahnee is the prime one) before Delaware North took over, and these were transferred. The remainder of the trademarks were registered around 2002 to 2003.
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-02/news/mn-41470_1_delaware-north
The issue that a lot of people have with the way Delaware North handled it was that they weaponized the trademarks as a poison pill to try and make it less desirable to an outside contractor.
The closest thing I've heard of is LeConte Lodge at GSMNP, which was trademarked and licensed to the concessionaire.
http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/trademark-trouble-at-national-par...
So y_p_w. You agree that DNC bought the Ahwahnee trademark? Who filed the trademarks in 2002-2003?
Not really. They certainly had the USPTO transfer the registration, but that doesn't specifically address whether or not the previous contractor had a right to register it nor transfer it to a private party. The issue is whether or not a contractor actually can own the trademarks or whether or not it legally "runs with the property". As an example, imagine that a contractor had been brought in to run the Pebble Beach Lodge and the name had never been registered before. Would the contractor have the right to register it and use it to insist that it owns the name when the contract is up and there are bids?
There is no doubt that when the trademark for The Ahwahnee was registered by YP&CC in 1988, the property belonged to the National Park Service. The other trademarks were registered by DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite around 2002, although several applications were abandoned. As for the transfer of assets, NPS has pointed out to the agreement between DNC and YP&CC transferring assets didn't specifically mention any trademarks. It was material goods. And the thing that NPS has been upset about is that none of these trademarks were registered with NPS being notified. Had they been, they could have objected on the grounds that they belonged to the federal government. That's essentially what happened with Xantera and their attempt to register Grand Canyon NP trademarks, although that was because NPS was hyper-vigilant after being burned by Yosemite trademarks. If I were NPS, I'd have an intern periodically check on the UPSTO site for any applications by an NPS concessionaire and have a list of NPS names to check the database for applications.
NPS has contended that any trademarks registered by a concessionaire are either not valid or should legally transfer to NPS without payment. The closest case I can think of was the Taylor's Refresher case in Napa County, which I referenced earlier. The Taylor family gave up on the business but then became a landlord, which included allowing the tenant to use the previous name. The tenant wanted to expand to other locations and then trademarked the name "Taylor's Instant Refresher". The Taylor family wasn't happy with it and sued. In front of the USPTO board the Taylors won their case. Then the tenant decided to change the name of the business (as a tenant) and the Taylors weren't too happy about that either, since they thought that they were maintaining the family legacy.
https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/taylor-s-family-furious-over-e...
As of now, NPS makes sure that when a new contract is signed, the concessionaire explicitly signs off that they don't own the trademarks. The question is whether or not this is assumed to be a legal requirement, even if not specifically on paper.
The Ahwahnee Hotel was proposed and built by the Yosemite Park & Curry Company in 1927. Curry Village was created in 1899. Both were eventually purchased by the Delaware North Company in 1993.
All of these WERE private names owned by a private company (when created) and are STILL private names.
It's not that hard to grasp.
The San Francisco Chronical did a nice writeup on this complicated issue asserting that all sides carry some blame including how the NPS and the US Patent and Trademark Office failed to protect these special names.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/How-Yosemite-lost-its-histor...
Outrageous for the concessionaire to claim the names.
Delaware North's behavior in this case, in what appears to be the outright theft of the names of iconic landmarks in Yosemite Valley such as the Ahwahnee Hotel and Camp Curry, is reprehensible and a shameful example of corporate greed and abuse. I cannot think if anything any corporation could do that would be more disrespectful to the national parks or to the American people. If Delaware North and its principals had any decency or respectability at all, they would drop this foolish attempt at stealing the names of landmarks that belong to every American.
DNC should be kicked out without remuneration. They are a huge corporation trying to bully their way with the NPS. At 84 years of age I remember camping out in Yosemite as a boy, and my wife and family later on staying at the Ahwahnee and Wawona many times. Our 50th anniversary with all children and grandchildren was held at the Ahwahnee hotel in 2007. It is a special place for us, and no doubt for millions of other people. I hope the judge rules in favor of all people like me and decides in favor of the NPS, and removes DNC's claim.