The Ahwahnee Hotel of Yosemite has regained its historical name after a dispute over a brand: NPR

After years of litigation, a historic hotel in Yosemite National Park will return to its original name – The Ahwahnee.

Ben Margot / AP

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Ben Margot / AP

After years of litigation, a historic hotel in Yosemite National Park will return to its original name – The Ahwahnee.

Ben Margot / AP

The names of several large hotels and camp villages in Yosemite National Park, California are being restored following a long-standing trademark dispute.

The Majestic Yosemite Hotel has found its original name, The Ahwahnee. And a set of cabins that temporarily called Half Dome Village now bears its historic name, Camp Curry.

"I said from the first day literally that these names belonged to these places and ultimately belonged to the American people," said Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman at the Los Angeles Times. "So, solving this conflict is huge."

A legal settlement announced Monday ends a dispute that began in 2015, when Yosemite did not renew the contract of its long-time supplier, a subsidiary of the leading Delaware North supplier. Instead, he awarded a 15-year contract to Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark.

Delaware North sued. And as Kirk Siegler of NPR pointed out at the time, it appeared that the company had registered the brand names of a number of sites that she was managing.

To forego these marks, he was asking for a significant amount – much more than the National Parks Service had claimed. Delaware North wanted $ 50 million for trademarks and service marks, Siegler reported. "No thanks," says Yosemite Hospitality – and the National Parks Service, "they value the value of the assets at only $ 3 million."

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Delaware North transfers the trademarks and service marks to Aramark. And at the end of Aramark's contract, "these trademarks and service marks will be transferred free of charge to the National Parks Service," according to a NPS press release.

The US government paid $ 3.84 million and Aramark paid $ 8.16 million to Delaware North, Gediman said. Time.

For the period when the names were changed, some of the landmarks just had plastic sheeting with the new names covering the historical signs.

On Monday, Yosemite put two photos on Twitter. The first showed a plastic sign welcoming visitors to the "Half Dome Village"; the second showed the removed plastic and the original wooden sign welcoming visitors to "Camp Curry".

The Ahwahnee was built in the 1920s with the aim of attracting richer visitors to the park, according to the hotel's website. This remarkable building is inspired by many traditions of architecture and design, including "Art Deco, Native American, Middle East and Arts & Crafts Movement".

The Wawona Hotel, called the Big Trees Lodge since 2016, has also regained its original name. When she changed, Wawona's former director, Monica Hubert, told Siegler that "these names are all geared towards [Native American] tribes that were in Yosemite. … There are reasons why they are named these things. "