Beanie Baby maker settles suit against casinos

Tuesday, April 3, 2001 | 10:58 a.m.

Ty Inc. which accused Aztar Corp. of illegally promoting Ty's "Beanie Baby" toys in exchange for slot play at Aztar's Tropicana hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, has reached a settlement with the Phoenix-based hotel-casino operator.

Westmont, Ill.-based Ty sought an injunction in May in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to stop Aztar's "Beanie Babies Giveaway Slots," a Tropicana slot promotion that began around April 1999. It awarded the wildly popular plush toys as awards to its slot machine patrons.

But Ty's request for an injunction was denied by U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben because Aztar stopped its promotion before Ty sought the injunction, said West Allen, Aztar's attorney.

Aztar said it was served the injunction on May 17 even after it had removed all billboard and casino floor signs advertising the Beanie Baby giveaways and ended the promotion on May 16.

Ty's lawsuit was dismissed last week after both parties agreed to resolve their differences and "decided that it would be financially more prudent to resolve the case outside of federal litigation," Allen said.

Allen declined to reveal the terms of the settlement, but said: "It was a fair resolution. We reached a number that both sides argued was just. The final settlement took into consideration that litigation expenses could run up to $100,000."

"It was ultimately a question as to whether there were any revenues engendered by the promotion and whether there was any infringement. Ty alleged it was entitled to revenues but we both disagreed over what those damages were," Allen said.

"Aztar maintains there were no significant profits to be had from the promotion and there was no infringement because we bought the Beanie Babies and as a subsequent buyer, we have the right to resell or give away the product," Allen said.