SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After almost a decade of litigation, the federal trial of trademark dispute at the core of a seasonal California tourist attraction began Monday.
Apple Hill Growers, a collective of farms, sued El Dorado Orchards and others over the use of the Apple Hill name. El Dorado once was part of the collective, though a dispute occurred in 2013, and the association said it removed them.
El Dorado in 2014 registered the domain name “applehillca.com,” representing to the public it was the official website of Apple Hill and the collective’s official visitor’s center. The association in its suit also claims that El Dorado and others improperly linked themselves to Apple Hill on social media, mobile apps and a billboard on a major highway running through the region…