Vail Resorts has withdrawn its application to trademark the term “Park City” in response to prolonged and widespread criticism.
This momentous announcement came from Bill Rock, the chief operating officer of Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR). PCMR is currently owned by Vail Resorts, which has been engaged in an ongoing trademark application for the term “Park City” since July 8 of 2014 to prevent other ski resorts from using the term. Local businesses and citizens alike, though, did not fully believe these intentions, and additionally did not agree with the general idea of their city being trademarked.
In Rock’s written statement that was released today, he explains that, “We [Vail Resorts] have tried to assure the community that this registration would not negatively impact other businesses and we do believe that there has been some misunderstandings and misinformation about the trademark registration. That said, this has clearly become a distraction that is pulling our collective focus away from the important work that lies ahead for our city on critical issues, such as affordable housing, parking and transit among others.”
After two years of opposition—highlighted by passionate community remarks, formal opposition from Park City officials and a protest this week—the people of Park City have been heard.
See the full statement from Rock, below.
Written statement from Bill Rock, chief operating officer of Park City Mountain Resort
“In 2014 while under Powdr Corp ownership, an application was filed with the Patent and Trademark Office to register the word mark “Park City” for providing facilities for skiing and snowboarding. After our acquisition, we supported that application because we think it’s appropriate to obtain the benefits of federal registration for the Park City mark, which has a long history of use in connection with the ski resort that is located in the Park City community. This is common within the ski industry and there are other businesses in our community that have registered Park City for their products. However, recently there has been much concern raised in the community about what the impact of our trademark registration would be. We have tried to assure the community that this registration would not negatively impact other businesses and we do believe that there has been some misunderstandings and misinformation about the trademark registration. That said, this has clearly become a distraction that is pulling our collective focus away from the important work that lies ahead for our city on critical issues, such as affordable housing, parking and transit among others. As such, we have decided to withdraw our trademark application in an effort to move beyond this concern. In addition, we will be updating certain of our wayfinding and vehicular signage in Park City to address any local confusion about the difference between the resort and the municipality. We will be longtime partners in the Park City community, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration on everything that makes our community so special.”
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