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Palazzo Casino Seeks Court Decision After T-Shirt Company Sends Cease & Desist.
LAS VEGAS, July 14, 2009 -- The owners of the Palazzo Casino filed a Complaint for a Declaratory Judgment after receiving a cease and desist letter from the t-shirt company Palazzo Design Corporation.
The Venetian Casino Resort, LLC, the owner of the Palazzo Casino, received a letter on or about June 26, 2009 from Palazzo Design Corporation claiming the casino's use of the mark PALAZZO on t-shirts sold in the casino gift shop infringed their trademark PALAZZO federally registered in connection with t-shirts.
According to the complaint, the letter from Palazzo Design Corporation requested that the casino license or purchase the trademark from them, with the implication that litigation would result if they did not.
The records maintained by the United States Patent & Trademark Office confirm that Palazzo Design Corporation has registered the mark with PALAZZO with the date of first use of December 31, 1999.
The USPTO records also indicate that the Venetian Casino Resort, LLC has not registered the trademark PALAZZO in connection with t-shirts, but did registered PALAZZO in connection with its casino and entertainment services with a date of first use of May 4, 1999.
The primary purpose of trademark infringement laws is to prevent consumer confusion regarding the source of goods and services. The first party to use a trademark may prohibit other parties from using a mark subsequently on connection with similar goods or services if it so resembles the original mark as to cause confusion. If the later mark is so similar, it is deemed to infringe on the prior mark.
The Venetian Casino Resort, LLC is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada for a judgment declaring their use of PALAZZO on t-shirts does not infringe the rights of Palazzo Design Corporation.
In assessing damages for infringing a federally registered trademark, the court may enter judgment for any sum above the amount found as actual damages, up to three times. When a court finds a defendant intentionally counterfeited a registered trademark, the court must, unless the court finds extenuating circumstances, enter judgment for three times such profits or damages, whichever is greater, together with a reasonable attorney’s fee unless the Plaintiff elects for statutory damages up to $1,000,000 per counterfeit mark per type of goods or services sold, offered for sale, or distributed.