A jury in Clark County decided that Las Vegas could support two properties of the same name because one property will be significantly more upscale than the other.

That is essentially what the jury said when it handed down a verdict dismissing claims from Tamares Las Vegas Properties that a new $5 billion resort on the Strip—modeled and named after the New York landmark Plaza hotel—would be confused with the existing Plaza hotel and casino in Downtown Las Vegas.

The verdict allows El Ad Group to move forward with its development plans. (The company had planned for a 2008 groundbreaking but has since pushed that date back to 2010 because of the troubled financing market).

The jury also dismissed claims for punitive damages approaching $30 million that Tamares was seeking for allegedly having to delay a $100 million property redevelopment.

In the courtroom, lawyers for Tamares argued that the existing property has built buzz, reputation and name recognition throughout Las Vegas having used the Plaza name going back to its opening in 1971.

El Ad said the existing casino went by the name Union Plaza until Jackie Gaughan changed it to Jackie Gaughan’s Plaza in the 1990s. Attorneys also argued that there is no evidence that Tamares is interested in pouring money into its casino.

As proof, attorneys provided letters from Larry Woolf, whose management company Navagante operated the property through the summer of 2007, which said the company was taking a “Band-Aid approach” and “seemed to enjoy making us ask for money.”

El Ad attorneys also pointed out that the company holds a nationwide trademark on the Plaza name that dates back to 1986, and that the hotel in New York has been operating under that name since it opened more than 100 years ago.

By Casino Connection Staff