The question, "What's in a name," has evidently turned to "What's a name worth," when the venue is Yosemite National Park.
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| The Ahwahnee -- NPS photo |
Federal attorneys have filed a response to a lawsuit against the National Park Service, filed by DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite Inc. (DNC), a company that at one time held contracts for concession services at the California park. But when the company was outbid for contract renewal, things got ugly. It turns out that without warning the Park Service, DNC had filed for trademarks on famous names in the park. For example, DNC says it owns the name "The Ahwahnee," which is the name of a hotel in the park. DNC didn't build the hotel, but says it wants money for the name and the now-trademarked names of other park venues.
How much? They claim that the Park Service should shell out $44 million for park names – while federal attorneys say the intellectual property might be worth a little over a million and a half dollars. Spelling it out in black and white, the federal response says, "DNCY’s parent company has apparently embarked on a business model whereby it collects trademarks to the names of iconic property owned by the United States."
It looks like a protracted fight is set up. But in a time when public lands are in dispute, vis-à-vis, the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon by a group that demands public lands be turned over to "the people," nothing is surprising.
Your story is confusing. Who named the Ahwahnee in the first place. Of course they didn't build it, they are a services company. How about you do a rewrite to the story and make it more clear.
ReplyDeleteI was initially offended at this when I first learned about it, but digging in shows that the case is much murkier then you lay out. Take a look at DNC's description (at http://www.yosemitepark.com/questions.aspx ) to see that the NPS made them buy the copyrights for the names at the start of their contract in the 90's.
ReplyDeleteI still think the situation is crazy, but I also think it's crazy that the park service / feds would allow anyone else to own the IP in the first place (as opposed to licensing them).