much larger corporation to use holiday-inn.com. In 2006, an agreement between IHG and the Niagara Falls, Ontario hotel owners was reached that allowed both the Hotel and Holidayinn.com to be incorporated into the IHG system. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Holiday Inn hotels located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina were simply called "Holiday" because a local motel already had the "Holiday Inn" name. The Myrtle Beach motel started as Ocean Front Lodge in 1948 but changed the name to Holiday Inn in 1949 (three years before the founding of the chain), and put up a sign in 1955 with similar lettering to that of the chain, which registered its sign in 1954. The chain first franchised motels in the area in 1956. The Myrtle Beach hotel put up a sign resembling the "Great Sign" in 1968, and used "®" with its name, though many of its items came from suppliers which assumed they were selling to the chain. The Myrtle Beach hotel "began a concurrent use proceeding in the Patent and Trademark Office" in 1970, which was suspended when the name was contested before the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (Florence division) in 1973. The court said the Myrtle Beach hotel had plenty of repeat business and was not negatively impacted by the chain's motels in the area. The 1973 injunction meant the Myrtle Beach hotel was granted the right to use the name but with a different style of lettering. The concurrent use proceeding resumed for the Myrtle Beach hotel, which continued to operate as "Holiday Inn", although it was required to use a distinctly different font. A 1976 ruling granted the Myrtle Beach Hotel the right to a service mark. A 1979 order denied a motion to modify the 1973 injunction, though it was believed the hotel had followed all restrictions. A 1981 decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 1979 action. See also List of chained-brand hotels List of hotels References External links Pictures of the Great Sign Hotel chains in the United States Motels in the United States Companies based in Atlanta American companies established in 1952 Hotels established in 1952 1952 establishments in Tennessee InterContinental Hotels Group brands American subsidiaries of foreign companies American brands Companies based in Buckinghamshire 1988 mergers and acquisitions