The historic "Camp Curry" name was restored today to the entrance sign at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park after a trademark dispute was settled with Delaware North, Inc./NPS
A years-long trademark dispute that caused Yosemite National Park to rename the historic place names of some of its most popular lodging and dining locations has ended, freeing the National Park Service to restore iconic names such as The Ahwahnee and Curry Village to sites in the park.
The Park Service on Monday announced that DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, Inc. (Delaware North), a former concessionaire at the park, will transfer trademarks and service marks at issue in the lawsuit to Yosemite Hospitality, LLC (Aramark), the current concessionaire, as part of a settlement that included the U.S. government.
Under Aramark’s Yosemite concession contract with the National Park Service, those trademarks and service marks will transfer at no cost to the National Park Service upon the expiration or termination of Aramark’s contract. The settlement also involves Delaware North’s transfer of various types of tangible assets (not previously purchased by Aramark) to Aramark and the National Park Service. Finally, the settlement provides for payments to Delaware North from Aramark and the United States to resolve any and all contractual disputes among the three parties arising from Delaware North’s departure as a concessioner at Yosemite, and Aramark’s assumption of its Yosemite concession contract.
On Monday, a temporary banner that had covered the name "Camp Curry" at the entrance to Curry Village was removed.
Names that the park changed in 2016 in response to Delaware North's lawsuit included:
- The Ahwahnee became The Majestic Yosemite Hotel
- Curry Village became Half Dome Village
- Yosemite Lodge at the Falls became Yosemite Valley Lodge
- Wawona Hotel became: Big Trees Lodge
- Badger Pass Ski Area became: Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area
"The National Park Service looks forward to the restoration of some of the previous names of the properties at Yosemite, including the Ahwahnee hotel, and the resumed use of other trademarks in connection with concessioner activities at Yosemite," the Park Service said in a release. "Any changes to the current names of properties at Yosemite National Park following this settlement will be based upon a schedule to be determined by Aramark and the National Park Service."
It is expected to take up to several months to restore all signs and other materials.
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 lodging and dining concessions at Yosemite. During the process, Delaware North, 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.
After Delaware North 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 Delaware North's intangible properties.
Yosemite National Park officials, looking to avoid a costly trademark fight with Delaware North, announced in January 2016 that they would change the names of iconic lodges in the park.
Delware North 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 concessionaire to Yosemite Hospitality, LLC.
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Comments
Technically the trademark registrations happened in the late 80s under Reagan and then around 2002-3 in the Bush II administration. However, I don't think of this as a political issue. I really don't believe anyone could have anticipated it. This was the first time it became an issue, and moving forward no concessionaire is likely to try, although Xanterra tried and was rebuffed because NPS was paying attention.
y-p-w: You say they "technically" occurred in the late 80s. What do you mean by technically? You then say "around 2002-03." What do you mean by around? When in 1991 Manuel Lujan forced the sale of the Yosemite Park and Curry Company to the National Park Foundation, Congress held major hearings, in which I believe none of this was ever mentioned. The first new concessionaire after MCA (Delaware North) was supposed to buy the concession for the government--that as its obligation for being awarded the contract. End of story; no more debates. Every stitch, nut, and bolt of the concession belongs to the government via Interior and NPS. One would think the names went with the concession, yes? How did yes turn into "technically" no?
Believe me, I'm not asking for myself, but yes, I want the second editon of my book to be accurate. If you have any special knowledge, sources, or insights, I would like to know. "Technically" and "around" are of little help.
I don't have a copy of the terms, but all reporting of the transfer state that there was no checklist of "intangible assets" that transfered from MCA/Matushita to the National Park Foundation, then to Delaware North. However, one well known trademark that YP&CC registered before the forced sale to NPF as the caretaker was "The Ahwahnee", which was USPTO trademark serial number 73739312, registration number 1529066.
https://trademarks.justia.com/737/39/the-73739312.html
It shows a trademark ownership history that mentions YP&CC, Delaware North Parks & Resorts, and Yosemite Concession Services. But somehow this trademark that was registered by YP&CC (under the Reagan administration and granted in the Bush I administration) and ended up transferred to Delaware North.
And I don't agree that everything in the concession belonged to the government. As you stated it was arranged as a forced sale to the National Parks Foundation, which operated it as a caretaker before the contract was awarded to Delaware North. They had "tangible assets" that have been mentioned many times in the telling of the trademark dispute, including vehicles, restaurant requirment, etc. that would be needed to run the business. The government has never owned those assets. You're free to research the registration history. But you can have this as a start:
https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=1529066&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION...
What I'm saying is that the Reagan/Bush USPTO allowed this to be registered and apparently this was never addressed buy NPS when Secretary Lujan was in office. And that during the Bush II administration, Delaware North started applying for trademark registrations for Yosemite names, including the following (with their registration numbers):
Badger Pass (2720778)
Yosemite Lodge (2715313)
Curry Village (2685968)
Wawona (2739708)
I just find it disingenuous that somehow you pin this on the Obama administration or Interior while he was in charge. The registration and/or transfer of these trademarks was all done quietly over the years under multiple administrations. You can check all these on TESS at the USPTO website.
Inept governemnt lawyers allowed DNC to "steal" the names in the first place...
Stand your ground, y_p_w, and don't give even an inch! I have a lot of first hand experience with Delaware North, Xanterra, and Yellowstone Forever in Yellowstone and with Aramark in a couple of places. Yes, this is problem did slither its way, in the dark and behind closed doors, through multiple administrations and inept government lawyers did provide an unnecessarily easy way forward; however, it has always been a problem of corrupt concessionaires and their cronies and has never been a problem equally attributable to all administrations. I too find it disingenuous, disgustingly so, that someone would now try to pin this on the Obama Administration or on Interior during the Obama Administration. I've also never cared for much of Alfred Runte's work; I find it skewed; I won't be buying or reading his book; and I won't be recommending it, at least not for reading.
Apparently the NPS did not have to pay for the smaller portion of the settlement. It came from a DOJ settlement fund.
Thank you, y_p_w. Now I see where you're coming from. But yes, the final, final in all of this happened under the Obama Administration. Why wasn't his Interior Secretary on the ball? As you state regarding Xanterra at Grand Canyon, why wasn't the National Park Service "paying attention" in Yosemite?
As for you, rumpelstilskin, remember what Mark Twain said about critics. I put my name out there. What is your name, and for that matter y_p_w's? I know; it's a jungle out there. Someone might call you out for an idea. Ot stab you in the back for one. Then have one, at least, besides the old corruption theory. After all, we citizens always play right along. That is the essence of YOSEMITE: THE EMBATTLED WILDERNESS. Your government was the crony, too. That's good history and not opinion. Now, buy a coloring book and enjoy your weekend. Good history is over your head.
Oh, AL, Under Trump's Administration and GOP enablers, expect Yosemite's Assets to be sold off to the wealthy Chinese and Russian Oligarchs ! Perhaps, new developments like
a private golf course resort for Trump's Wealthy Friends will be planned for the Valley once all that "Naturalness" is bulldozed ! and flammable forest debris is vacuumed ! as
Trump recommended visiting the smoldering ashes of Paradise, CA.