Feb11
Genting and Wynn In Court
January 29, 2019 Alex Hoffmann
The clash of the titans from the gambling industry, Genting Group and Wynn Resorts, will finally kick off in court on January 28th, 2019 as US District Court Judge, Gloria Navarro, set up a date of legal battle between the two publicly traded corporations based on the Las Vegas Strip.
Genting is accused of copying Wynn’s design for the Resorts World Las Vegas, as stated in the official lawsuit. Both companies will present arguments on Monday, 28th but the hardest assignment is certainly given to the lawyers, who have to explain how the aforementioned resort does not resemble Wynn and Encore’s design. According to the company that pressed charges, Genting’s design solutions are almost identical to the “bronze curved glass from Wynn’s buildings.”
Facility To Look Different Upon Completion
There are two years left to go before the grand opening of Resorts World Las Vegas in Nevada and that is the main argument of the attorneys for Resorts World – the property consists of a bare skeleton, not resembling anything else but a structure without floors or window ing, typical for early construction projects.
Furthermore, the facility will look completely different upon completion, which rejects any allegations that a “reasonable consumer” could get confused and associate the two resorts with one another.
The lawsuit also reads
“The architectural design embodied in defendant’s Resorts World Las Vegas hotel and casino is substantially similar to the plaintiff’s ed copyrighted architectural work and therefore the defendant is violating the plaintiff’s copyrights in addition to the plaintiff’s ed and common law trade dress.”
Genting Remains Confident
According to Michael Levoff, senior vice president of public affairs and development for Genting, the company is confident about winning the case:
“Genting (Resorts World’s parent company) remains confident that once all of the relevant facts are presented, the company will defeat Wynn’s baseless claims.”
Levoff also states that the lawsuit represents Wynn’s attempts to portray Genting as an unjust rival by exhibiting five counts of the suit – unfair competition, false designation of origin, federal trademark dilution, state trademark dilution, and copyright infringement.
A spokesman for Wynn Resorts issued an official statement about the hearing:
“The court’s order allows Resorts World time to satisfy Wynn… and that any design different from the design Wynn accuses of infringement will not resemble the design of the Wynn.
It is Wynn’s desire that a design can be agreed to in the next two weeks, as expressed at the hearing, so that construction can continue and no jobs are interrupted or terminated.”
To summarize, stopping the project would eventually cost $169 million, plus it could lead to 500 construction workers being laid off instantaneously.
Source:
“All set for court battle of Genting and Wynn”, Niji Ng, europeangaming.eu, January 23, 2019.
“Genting says remains confident will defeat Wynn’s baseless claims”, Chong Jin Hun, theedgemarkets.com, January 21, 2019.
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Another great win for Wynn, or? The company still hasn’t recovered from last year’s hiatus, it’s already venturing into court battles over design issues!? They seriously need to reorganize management and concentrate on rebuilding their reputation first.