Xanterra Abandons National Park Trade Name Gambit

Xanterra Parks & Resorts has dropped most, if not all, of its applications to trademark the names of lodgings and other concessions on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, reports National Parks Traveler, which cites U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records.

Those records indicate that Xanterra halted applications to trademark "Phantom Ranch," "Thunderbird Lodge," "Desert View Watchtower," "Kachina Lodge," "Yavapai Lodge," "Maswik Lodge," "Trailer Village" and "Hopi House." Trademark applications for several other property names—"El Tovar," "Hermit's Rest," "Arizona Room" and "Red Horse Cabin"—were still "live" though paperwork to abandon those applications were filed.

Xanterra, which operates a variety of guest services, including food concessions, at a number of major national parks had been engaged in an extended dispute with the National Park Service over the Grand Canyon contract, which included a now-dismissed lawsuit. The company had filed the trademark applications late last year, mirroring a similar move by fellow national parks concessions company Delaware North involving property names at Yellowstone National Park.