As reported by The Denver Post and inspired, no doubt, by the season’s first snowfall, the trademark infringement lawsuit filed by plaintiffs Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation and Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club against defendants Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau et al. over their respective SKI TOWN, U.S.A. and SKI CITY USA marks has been settled. The Steamboat plaintiffs’ SKI TOWN, U.S.A. mark is protected by a portfolio of federal registrations and applications, and has been in use in commerce since 1959 in connection with skiing and related products and services. The Salt Lake defendants subsequently adopted the SKI CITY USA mark in a marketing campaign that, according to the Bureau’s CEO, “is absolutely aimed at luring skiers away from Colorado.” Characterizing the SKI CITY USA campaign as an attempt “to leverage our brand and our brand equity,” the Steamboat plaintiffs then filed suit against the Salt Lake defendants on the grounds that the latter’s SKI CITY USA mark is confusingly similar to the former’s registered SKI TOWN, U.S.A. mark. Other than noting that the lawsuit has been settled “in a manner acceptable to all parties,” the parties have not disclosed any details about the terms of the settlement, but it appears that the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau has now removed the USA portion of its SKI CITY USA mark. Read the full article here, and the plaintiffs’ complaint here.

By Ben Njeri (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Reposted from The Denver Post.