RSS 2.0 FeedVol. 4, No. 1, January 2008, Tumbling Dice
Plaza Lawsuit No Sure Thing
The lawsuit over the right to use the Plaza name in Las Vegas will be heard in a Clark County courthouse, a fact that the Tamares Group touted as a small victory. Some, however, think it may be the only thing Tamares will have to celebrate in the dispute.
While having the case heard locally may benefit Tamares with a judge more sympathetic to the local interest, it might not matter when it comes to the specifics of winning a trademark lawsuit.
Tamares will have to prove that customers will mistake its Downtown casino with the $5 billion resort Elad is proposing on the Strip. It’s pretty unlikely that anyone would confuse the two properties in any way.
That tough task seems to be keeping Elad from coming to the bargaining table, too. While many expect that Tamares is doing little more than setting the table for negotiating a buyout of the Plaza name, there have been no discussions to date.
There is a precedent, however, that shows it may be easier to win with a check than in a courtroom.
When Steve Wynn was gearing up to open the Mirage, he paid the owners of the Mirage and La Mirage motels $250,000 each for local rights to the name. There is at least one similarity between that example and the Tamares-Elad dispute: no one in their right mind would confuse a run-down motel with Wynn’s revolutionary new resort.
A settlement conference will be held soon, before the two parties head to trial.
While having the case heard locally may benefit Tamares with a judge more sympathetic to the local interest, it might not matter when it comes to the specifics of winning a trademark lawsuit.
Tamares will have to prove that customers will mistake its Downtown casino with the $5 billion resort Elad is proposing on the Strip. It’s pretty unlikely that anyone would confuse the two properties in any way.
That tough task seems to be keeping Elad from coming to the bargaining table, too. While many expect that Tamares is doing little more than setting the table for negotiating a buyout of the Plaza name, there have been no discussions to date.
There is a precedent, however, that shows it may be easier to win with a check than in a courtroom.
When Steve Wynn was gearing up to open the Mirage, he paid the owners of the Mirage and La Mirage motels $250,000 each for local rights to the name. There is at least one similarity between that example and the Tamares-Elad dispute: no one in their right mind would confuse a run-down motel with Wynn’s revolutionary new resort.
A settlement conference will be held soon, before the two parties head to trial.
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