{"id":15849,"date":"2024-04-05T10:52:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T20:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15849"},"modified":"2024-04-05T19:38:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T05:38:37","slug":"developer-community-spar-over-marconi-trade-name-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15849","title":{"rendered":"Developer, Community Spar Over Marconi Trade Name Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Listed under M: \u201cMarconi.<\/strong> Beach, surf site, Kahuku, O\u02bbahu. Calcareous sand beach between Kalaeokauna\u02bboa, or Kahuku Point, and Kalaeuila, or High Rock. The beach and the surf site were named after the small community immediately inland. The American Marconi Company set up wireless operations in Hawai\u02bbi in 1902 and built their transpacific receiving station here at Kahuku in 1915. Since then, the community that developed around the station has been known as Marconi. The beach is also known as Hanaka\u02bb\u012blio Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s from the book, \u201cHawai\u02bbi Place Names: Shores, Beaches and Surf Sites,\u201d by John R.K. Clark, published by University of Hawai\u02bbi press in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So according to Clark, the area adjacent to the Turtle Bay golf course that includes the Marconi Point Condominiums has been known as Marconi for more than a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the right to the name \u201cMarconi,\u201d as it relates to the region, is now being disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growing concern among community members<\/a> troubled by the impacts that the property\u2019s development have had on environmental and cultural resources culminated in the creation in January of a group calling itself the M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to social media posts, the group sent a letter to the City & County of Honolulu\u2019s Department of Planning and Permitting calling for the removal of an iron fence around one of the condo units that was interfering with nesting Laysan albatross, a protected species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It also called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate the death<\/a> last December of a Laysan albatross that had become entangled in that fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then something strange happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 25, Makai Ranch, LLC, which created the Marconi Point Condominiums project more than a decade ago, registered the trade names M\u0101lama Marconi and M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition states on its Facebook page that it is \u201ca network of community organizations and individuals advocating for the full enforcement all laws protecting the natural, cultural, historic resources, native ecosystems, and wildlife at \u2018Marconi RCA\u2019 properties and coastline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nature of the M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition as registered by Makai Ranch, however, is \u201csupporting conservation, protection of wildlife, clean energy, agriculture, and historic preservation at Marconi Point Condominiums.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference between the two mission statements could confuse the public, argued the Center for Biological Diversity in a press release issued March 14. The center is a member of the original M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The release also noted that in addition to registering the trade names, Makai Ranch \u201creserved certain domain names for URLs containing the names \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition\u2019 and \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi\u2019 \u2014 possibly to prevent the association from continuing its public interest advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the DCCA registrations and URL reservations, the group filed a petition last month with the DCCA \u201cto protect their coalition\u2019s original name from being hijacked by developers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis back-door maneuver to snag our name looks like a slimy and under-handed attempt to divert the public outrage over environmental and cultural destruction at Marconi,\u201d Maxx Phillips, Hawai\u2018i director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, stated in the press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 17, \u201cto ensure the association could continue its mission of advocacy,\u201d the group registered a new name with the DCCA: Aloha Marconi Alliance (as well as Aloha Marconi). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association said it would use these new names until their petition with the DCCA is resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t tolerate the lack of aloha for our concerned community, native species and their ecosystems,\u201d Conservation Council for Hawai\u2019i executive director Jonee Peters stated in the release. \u201cThis motivates us all to work even harder to stop the destruction of wildlife habitat and native species.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked for a response to the allegations of name-squatting, Makai Ranch\u2019s attorney, Ross Uehara-Tilton, conceded that that\u2019s exactly what was going on. However, he argued that it was done to prevent confusion, not cause it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that Makai Ranch owns the trade name\/trade mark \u201cMarconi\u201d when used in relation to the specific area of Kahuku. (To support this, he refers to a statement on the DCCA\u2019s website, which states, \u201cOwnership of a trade name is acquired by using the name openly and continuously in the marketplace. Many trade names in Hawai\u02bbi are not registered with the State. Nonetheless, by using those names in commerce, common law ownership rights are acquired.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c’Marconi\u2019 and\/or \u2018Marconi Point\u2019 are not the historical names of this geographic region. The name \u2018Marconi Point\u2019 only came into use as a descriptor when Makai Ranch created the condominium property regime known as \u2018Marconi Point Condominiums,\u2019\u201d Uehara-Tilton explained in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not an expert in Hawaiian history, but I believe the area was formerly known as Punamano for the nearby Punamano Marsh and the Punamano Spring.In any case, no one has used \u2018Marconi\u2019 to describe this region, until Makai Ranch,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe the individuals behind \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi\u2019 and the \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition\u2019 are improperly infringing upon the Marconi trade name, and their use of the name causes confusion to the public. The public might otherwise believe that Makai Ranch or the project are affiliated with \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi\u2019 and the \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition,\u2019 when they are not. These groups have published false and misleading information about the Marconi Point Condominiums, Makai Ranch, and affiliated entities, causing damage to Makai Ranch\u2019s reputation,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uehara-Tilton was referring, in part, to statements suggesting that Makai Ranch had anything to do with the Laysan albatross death or was somehow involved in any illegal land clearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  \u201cMakai Ranch was the original developer of the project, but the units have largely been sold to third parties. Makai Ranch is not responsible for the alleged environmental and cultural destruction. \u2026 Makai Ranch does not object to environmental and cultural advocacy, but is only trying to protect against the spread of false information. \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  \u201cMakai Ranch registered the trade names intending to protect its intellectual property and contest use of the Marconi trade name by these other groups. Registration was the first step to pursue these claims,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, \u201cWe do have concerns about the \u2018Aloha Marconi Alliance; for the same reasons, but we probably need to wait for the outcome of the petition for \u2018M\u0101lama Marconi Coalition\u2019 before deciding whether to try to contest \u2018Aloha Marconi Alliance.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uehara-Tilton did say that if presented with documentation or information that the region had long been referred to as Marconi (before Makai Ranch came along), \u201cThis kind of information might cause us to change our position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When presented with screen shots from Clark\u2019s book on place names, Uehara-Tilton called it \u201chelpful,\u201d but did not go further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listed under M: “Marconi. Beach, surf site, Kahuku, Oʻahu. Calcareous sand beach between Kalaeokaunaʻoa, or Kahuku Point, and Kalaeuila, or High Rock. The beach and the surf site were named after the small community immediately inland. The American Marconi Company … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[523],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-15849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2024","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}