Attempts by concessionaires to trademark several iconic National Park property names could be stymied by a section of the U.S. Code. The issue was called into question this week when news emerged that Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which operates lodges at the Grand Canyon, had applied to trademark its properties there.
Section 302106 of bill gives the National Park Service the right to 鈥渞etain the name historically associated with the building or structure鈥 if the building is deemed a landmark or worthy of the National Register of Historic Places.
Xanterra isn鈥檛 the only concessionaire sizing up its National Park holdings. Last summer, Delaware North, a contractor in Yosemite, placed a $51 million valuation on intellectual property it held in Yosemite, including trademarks on the Ahwahnee Hotel and Curry Village, . But given that parks like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon have many sites and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places or as National Historic Landmarks, those trademarks could be rendered null and void.
Dan Jensen, president of Delaware North, told National Parks Traveler that he鈥檇 never heard of Section 302106, which was passed into law as part of HR 1068 in December. 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know what to make of it,鈥 he said.
If trademarks were to be granted to Xanterra or another concessionaire, future park contractors that operated the hotels would have to pay whoever holds the rights to the iconic lodge names. The Park Service announced last week that it received at least two bids for the Yosemite contract and expects to name the winner this summer, according to National Parks Traveler.