A firm under the corporate umbrella of Powdr Corp., the Snyderville Basin-based company that once owned Park City Mountain Resort, has filed applications seeking to trademark the name of an action-sports facility that apparently remains under consideration for the area.
Powdr-Woodward PA LLC submitted paperwork to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for two similar trademarks related to a Woodward facility. One is for the name “Woodward Park City” and the other is for the name “Park City Woodward.” The applications were filed on June 7.
The applications were submitted amid a polarizing discussion in Park City regarding an unrelated trademark application under consideration from Vail Resorts, the Colorado-based owner of PCMR. Vail Resorts is seeking a trademark for the words “Park City” as they relate to a mountain resort. The move for a “Park City” trademark for the resort was started while PCMR was under the ownership of Powdr Corp. Vail Resorts acquired PCMR as part of a settlement of a lawsuit in 2014.
The Powdr Corp. application for the Woodward trademarks has not been widely publicized. No potential opponents to either of the Woodward trademark applications were listed by Tuesday morning. Powdr Corp. did not immediately make a statement regarding the trademark applications.
The trademark applications for the Woodward names are broadly worded, listing the possibility of dozens of activities that could be covered. Powdr Corp., which operates Woodward facilities elsewhere, sees them as camps for a variety of action sports. The trademark applications list sports or activities like skateboarding, BMX freestyle bicycling and inline skating.
But the applications also list skiing and snowboarding, something that could eventually attract attention from Vail Resorts. The Vail Resorts’ trademark request for the words “Park City” covers skiing and snowboarding as well as offering classes for skiers and snowboarders, meaning there is overlap between the Powdr Corp. application and the one from Vail Resorts regarding the critical activities of skiing and snowboarding.
Vail Resorts has said the trademark request is meant to guard against another company operating a ski resort with a similar name to “Park City.” The official name of the property is Park City Mountain Resort, but it is marketed as “Park City.”
A Vail Resorts spokesperson on Tuesday declined to comment about the Powdr Corp. applications, saying the firm is confident it will work out questions with other businesses regarding trademarks and it will not address individual trademark applications.
Powdr Corp. wanted to develop a Woodward Park City on a portion of the lower parking lots at PCMR and was in discussions with City Hall about the project prior to the sale. There has been little information made public about a Woodward Park City project in the nearly two years since PCMR was sold to Vail Resorts, however. The Powdr Corp. portfolio includes Gorgoza Park, a tubing facility in the Snyderville Basin. It seems that a Woodward Park City could be designed at the Gorgoza Park site, but there has not been public talks about such a project at that location.
The Vail Resorts trademark application for the words “Park City” has spurred widespread displeasure in recent weeks as businesses with the same words in their moniker and rank-and-file Parkites have expressed concerns about the prospects of a corporation securing the name of the community as a trademark even if the federal approval is narrowly worded.
Approximately 100 individuals, businesses or governments have filed paperwork with the Patent and Trademark Office indicating they are considering mounting a challenge to the “Park City” trademark application. City Hall and the County Courthouse are among those that are considering a challenge. Some of the others are businesses with the words “Park City” in their name. Mayor Jack Thomas and the Park City Council at a recent meeting received testimony largely against the Vail Resorts trademark application. The elected officials continue to consider whether City Hall will formally oppose the application from Vail Resorts.