Litigation dropped over competing Titanic resorts

Monday, May 15, 2000 | 10:52 a.m.

A Los Angeles man agreed to drop his lawsuit accusing Stratosphere hotel-casino developer Bob Stupak and his company Titanic Corp. of Nevada Inc. of stealing his idea of a Titanic theme for a hotel-casino.

U.S. District Judge Johnnie Rawlinson said in a May 5 order that both parties agreed to drop the suit and each will bear their own attorneys' fees and costs.

Allen Rubin, CEO of Los Angeles-based Titanic Resort, sued Stupak and Titanic Corp. on May 21, 1999, alleging Stupak misappropriated his trademark "Titanic Hotel and Casino," and allegedly competed for developers and investors with Rubin's planned Titanic hotel-casino project.

But Stupak's attorney James Jimmerson disputed his claims in a Nov. 19 response. Jimmerson said Stupak came upon the Titanic concept independently and that Rubin failed to produce any documentation that proved an authentic trademark was properly registered and complied with U.S. trademark statutes and codes.

Stupak had planned to build a replica of the famous ship on 10 acres on the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard South at Park Paseo Street, just south of Charleston Boulevard. The site is just a short distance north of the Stratosphere.

City officials, however, refused to rezone the area to accommodate Stupak's resort.

Stupak, who owned the low-rent Thunderbird motel on Las Vegas Boulevard at the proposed Titanic site, operated a wing of the motel as the "Titanic Resort."