Cirque du Soleil files trademark lawsuit against Florida business

Grace Leong

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

The operator of two Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas is seeking an injunction against Cirque Inc. of Hollywood, Fla., to prohibit the company from advertising and selling entertainment services and merchandise that it says infringe on Cirque du Soleil trademarks.

The Dream Merchant Co. LLC of St. Michael, Barbados, operates two circus arts shows: "O" at the Bellagio hotel-casino and "Mystere" at the Treasure Island hotel-casino through two Las Vegas licensees.

In a U.S. District Court suit, Dream Merchant said Cirque, an entertainment productions company that performs circus arts and provides private corporate parties, allegedly used the trademarks CIRQUE INGENIEUX and CIRQUE, the trade name Cirque Inc., and the domain names "cirquetour.com" and "cirqueproductions.com" to promote its services and products on the Internet.

The suit said Cirque, which allegedly used Cirque du Soleil's trademarks only after it became famous, allegedly frequently displayed the term CIRQUE much more prominently than the term INGENIEUX and often omits that word altogether.

The suit also alleged Cirque continued to use Cirque du Soleil's trademarks despite repeated demands by Cirque du Soleil to stop using the marks.

Dream Merchant, which said Cirque du Soleil spent $8.2 million in 1999 promoting its performances and selling merchandise in retail stores, mail-order catalogs and on the Internet, alleged the defendant's actions are diverting profits from Cirque du Soleil and confusing consumers into thinking Cirque is affiliated with Cirque du Soleil.

The suit said Dream Merchant maintains that Cirque, "if permitted to continue, will continue to injure Cirque du Soleil; its trademarks; the goodwill associated with its trademarks; and its reputation for providing unique, high-quality theatrical entertainment performances and associated merchandise."

Cirque du Soleil, which had worldwide revenues totalling more than $140 million in 1998, has operated an internet website at the domain name "cirquedusoleil.com" since March 1996. The suit said Cirque du Soleil's website is visited by about 200,000 people a month, about 70 percent of whom are from the United States.

Dream Merchant also seeks a court order requiring Cirque to surrender for destruction all merchandise, advertisements, signage and promotional materials bearing the Cirque du Soleil trademarks, and to cancel Cirque's May 6, trademark registration for the mark "Neil Goldberg's Cirque Ingenieux Theatre of the Imagination."

"The plaintiff does not have a legally protectable interest in the trademark and copyright of the word CIRQUE. That is a commonly used word by many companies throughout the country. What the plaintiff has is a trademark on the word CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, but not CIRQUE," responded Cirque's attorney Michael Moskowitz.

"Secondly, we believe that most of my client's business is in Florida and we believe that we've been using the name in Florida for many years. In fact, my client may have prior usage and prior rights on the word CIRQUE," he said.