Columnist Jeff German: How the LVCVA is still paying the price over slogan

Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005 | 9:03 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

Fallout from the botched "What happens here, stays here" slogan deal never seems to end.

Today the 14-member board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is expected to create, for the first time in its 50-year-history, a standing committee to oversee the policies that govern the way the LVCVA does business.

These are the policies -- aimed at restoring public confidence in the LVCVA -- that the board laid out in writing and adopted (also for the first time ever) at its Oct. 11 meeting.

The policies, recommended by the high-priced international law firm of Morrison & Foerster, were put in writing in part to ensure that the LVCVA never again gives up possession of a valuable slogan, such as "What happens here, stays here," without the board's knowledge.

It's the kind of accountability that has been missing for years at the LVCVA, a wealthy, free-wheeling public agency funded through a room tax on tourists.

The LVCVA, you may recall, secretly sold the world-famous slogan for $1 to R&R Partners to make it easier for its longtime advertising agency to pursue litigation against others trying to profit from the phrase's popularity.

But the deal also gave R&R Partners the legal ability to profit from selling "What happens here, stays here" merchandise, as well as the rights to any monetary judgments won in court.

The LVCVA has since recognized the error of its ways, but the ongoing trademark litigation has prevented it from regaining possession of the catchy slogan for the time being.

The lesson, however, already has been an expensive one for the LVCVA.

I'm told the Morrison & Foerster legal tab for fixing the slogan deal now has risen to $576,727 with the latest October billings. That's up from the $492,694 I previously reported.

If you add the more than $20,000 the LVCVA also has paid two other law firms in Reno, the legal expenses approach $600,000 -- and still counting.

Morrison & Foerster hasn't sent over its November billings yet. And Schreck Brignone -- a politically connected Las Vegas law firm the LVCVA hired last month to help protect its slogan rights -- has yet to submit any bills.

But they're coming.

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"What happens here stays here," meanwhile, reached another fascinating milestone in popular culture last week, which could give the LVCVA's expensive legal talent reason to rack up more fees.

The slogan made it into the fantasy world of the syndicated comic strip "Mother Goose and Grimm," by cartoonist Mike Peters.

In the strip cartoon characters visiting Santa Claus were instructed to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

When they questioned why, the elf at the entrance told them: "What happens at the North Pole, stays at the North Pole."

A cease and desist letter from Las Vegas probably already is heading Santa's way.