In the iGaming industry, everyone copies from everyone. However, Wynn Resorts Ltd is prepared to challenge this in court, filing a lawsuit in Nevada and going after Genting Vegas.
Genting Vegas in Legal Waters with Wynn Resorts
Wynn Resorts Ltd. is going after Genting Vegas arguing against the latter’s latest design decision that have clearly borrowed from the layout of Wynn, the plaintiff has stated. Headquarter in Malaysia, Genting is known for its exquisite designing practices, but this is the first time that the company has faced copyright infringement lawsuit.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a daily newspaper, Wynn Resorts Ltd. is seeking “exemplary and punitive damages”, as Genting have knowingly and intentionally violated the copyright of Wynn Resorts. The company is now targeting Genting across four specific areas, including:
- State trademark dilution
- Copyright infringement
- Federal trade dress infringement
- Unfair competition
Understandably, the cost of such a lawsuit could easily go beyond anything reasonable, as the projects themselves are worth billions of dollars. In the case of Resorts World Las Vegas LLC (the Genting property), the facilities are worth $4 billion and the project comes with 3,000 rooms spread across 87 acres and with a scheduled opening in 2020.
In this case, the devil is in the detail, as Genting has copied elements from the design that are the trademark of Wynn captured by properties in multiple locations.
The architectural design embodied in defendant’s Resorts World Las Vegas hotel and casino is substantially similar to plaintiff’s registered copyrighted architectural work, and therefore defendant is violating plaintiff’s copyrights in addition to plaintiff’s registered and common law trade dress.
As per the lawsuit, Wynn is seeking not to shut down the project, but make sure that it uses legal recourse to ensure that any materials that are its own trademark will be stripped from Genting’s property. This could cause quite the financial damage to the company, as most of the materials have already been pre-purchased and paid for.
According to Mark Lemley, Stanford University director of science and technology program, architects are allowed to “copy” their designs and for a trademark claim to be successful, Wynn will have to prove that Genting was intentionally trying to mislead customers to think they are entering a different brand’s authority.
Former Steve Wynn partner Kazuo Okada has agreed to a $2.6 billion settlement to give the go-ahead to the sale of his share in the company.
Wynn has been actively and meanly protecting their own designs. Recently, though, the company was embroiled in what seemed a design theft, with one of Steve Wynn’s partners, Kazuo Okada, receiving payment worth $4.2 billion for the company reportedly using his author designs without a permission. Mr. Okada also agreed to a $2.6 billion most recently to allow the sale of his share in the company.
A lawsuit that makes a claim on the authenticity and originally of the design is also very difficult to fight in court and it’s one of the least common cases there. Architectural copyright is no joke and Wynn are right to protect the company’s distinct signature style.
However, assuming an overbearing approach can backfire in the long-term and cause more legal woe than the company originally intended to create. Besides, Wynn Resorts already have enough on their plate.
