Myrtle Beach Real Estate is "Grande"

I have been coming to Myrtle Beach for at least 40 years. Like many kids in inner North Carolina, that was the vacation our parents took from the 50's on. So I've always loved this place, and wanted to live here. Now I've been here for 15 years, and still love it. But some of the silly stuff that the politicians and powers that be can get involved with still amazes me.

Myrtle Beach has always strived to be more like the Florida Beaches. It always was pretty much like Daytona Beach, but never quite made it to a class act like Boca Raton or Sarasota. Probably never will see that. But with all our new luxury condos in Myrtle Beach, and hopefully an eventual end to the strip clubs and run down buildings on 17, we'll see ourselves turn into a resort area to be proud of...instead of the "redneck Riviera".

In the last couple of years, many of my developer customers have taken to adding the word "Grande" (with the silent E) in their projects. We've got Grande Marsh, Mar Vista Grande, and Grande Shores. Add to that "Pointe" (with the silent E) in example; Pointe Marsh, Water Pointe, Shipwatch Pointe, and even THEE Pawn SHOPPE....you'd think we were reverting to Olde Englishe or trying to sound like we were Frenche...

I usually just roll my eyes and smile. Myrtle Beach natives and long-time transplants are so predictable...myself included. But what I saw in the Yahoo News today really made me laughe out loude.

Burroughs and Chapin, creators of the most luxurious Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, have apparently taken high offense at the other developers using this silent E in the names of the projects. They say they "trademarked" it, and are threatening to sue everyone who copies their style in naming condos. What a hoot! I wonder if Condo-World can sue every business down here that uses the word "condo"? They trademarked it years ago. Maybe the city of Myrtle Beach can prevent anybody from using the word "Myrtle" in their name. Boy would that be a huge problem!

This is just so silly. B&C already own and control Myrtle Beach. Many people call them names and put them down just like people do Bill Gates. The Have-nots are always jealous of the Haves. But this kind of action is feeding the fire for attitudes like that.

I guess I need to go trademark Myrtle Beach Web Design so I can prevent anybody else here from calling themselves web designers...

B&C wants 'grande' to itselfCompany sues developer over use of word for condos
By David Wren
The Sun News

Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. says its Myrtle Beach area developments are the only ones grand enough to be branded "grande," and the company is asking a federal court to stop a competitor from using the "G-with-a-silent-E" word in the title of a proposed condominium village.

B&C filed a lawsuit Jan. 3 against Signature Associates Inc. of Myrtle Beach, which plans to build the Grande Villas condo project at the International World Tour Golf Links off U.S. 501 in Myrtle Beach.

B&C says in court papers that Signature is illegally cashing in on its trademark now that the word "grande" has "become famous and distinctive to [B&C's] real estate services."

Mel Graham, president of Signature, said his company "has not been officially served with any lawsuit."

"Signature and Burroughs & Chapin did correspond approximately one year ago about their concern," Graham said. "At that time, Signature advised Burroughs & Chapin that they respectfully disagreed with their position."

Signature has not filed a response to B&C's lawsuit.
B&C spokesman Pat Dowling said he cannot comment on pending legal issues.

B&C, which owns trademarks for eight names with the word "grande" including Grande Dunes, wants unspecified monetary damages and a permanent injunction to prevent Signature from calling its project Grande Villas.



B&C says in court papers that the Grande Villas name will mislead people into thinking the condos are affiliated with Grande Dunes, causing irreparable damage to the "grande" brand that B&C has cultivated through $1.8 million annual advertising campaigns.

"Signature Associates' acts ... are committed with the intent to pass off and palm off its services bearing the 'Grande Villas' mark as if officially licensed or authorized by [B&C] with the intent to deceive and defraud the public," B&C says in court papers filed with the U.S. District Court in Florence.

B&C wrote letters to Signature on three occasions between August and October asking the company to stop using the word "grande," but B&C says Signature never responded.
Signature isn't the first business in the post-Grande Dunes Grand Strand to conclude that an "e" at the end of "grand" gives the name added cachet.

An Internet search shows there are at least a dozen other area non-B&C businesses and attractions using "grande" in their title, including the Paradise Grande condos and residential developments Myrtle Trace Grande, Tuscany Grande and Arrowhead Grande.

Dowling declined to say whether B&C plans to file trademark infringement lawsuits against any of those businesses.

The fact that there are several competing area developments with "grande" in their titles could make it difficult for B&C to prevail in its lawsuit, said Philip Jones, a trademark law expert with the Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione law firm in Chicago.

"It undercuts their ability to prove that the word is no longer just a descriptive term in the minds of consumers," Jones said.

To win, Jones said, B&C must prove that consumers think of that one company when they see the word "grande."

"The defendant is going to point to all these other people using the same term, and what that shows is that consumers can distinguish the differences," he said.
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