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Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010 | 10:17 a.m.
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The dispute over whether the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel-casino must pay royalties for using the "Tropicana" trademark is continuing, with investor Carl Icahn's Tropicana Entertainment Inc. filing a new lawsuit against the Las Vegas property over the issue last week.
The Las Vegas Tropicana formerly was part of Tropicana Entertainment LLC, which also had Tropicana-branded hotel-casinos in Atlantic City and Laughlin.
Tropicana Entertainment LLC filed for bankruptcy in May 2008 and the Las Vegas Tropicana last year was spun off to investors while Icahn purchased the main Tropicana Entertainment company.
Icahn's gaming company is based in Las Vegas and is now called Tropicana Entertainment Inc. A separate Icahn company owns the unfinished Fontainebleau casino resort in Las Vegas.
The 1,772-room Las Vegas Tropicana, now controlled by investors Onex Corp. and gaming executive Alex Yemenidjian, filed suit last year in Las Vegas against Icahn's Tropicana Entertainment, charging it should not have to pay a royalty for using the longtime Tropicana name for the property.
The suit, after bouncing between federal and state court in Las Vegas, was not resolved. Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez this summer ruled that Tropicana Entertainment LLC's bankruptcy court in Delaware needed to decide factual issues about rights to the Tropicana Las Vegas name.
Icahn's Tropicana Entertainment last week filed suit in the Delaware bankruptcy court, asking that a judge there decide the issue.
Tropicana Entertainment charged in its Aug. 10 complaint that not only is Tropicana Las Vegas trying to use the Tropicana name for free, but that it's seeking control of Tropicana Entertainment's trademarks valued in 2007 at almost $200 million.
Tropicana Entertainment attorneys argue in the new lawsuit that the bankruptcy court early on in the bankruptcy case confirmed Tropicana Entertainment controlled the Tropicana trademarks.
The attorneys wrote in the lawsuit that this confirmation came in the form of approvals of debtor-in-possession loans and the use of lenders' cash collateral held by Tropicana Entertainment -- approvals "premised upon (Tropicana Entertainment's) ownership of the Tropicana trademarks."
The attorneys argued that Onex took the Las Vegas property out of bankruptcy by purchasing its $440 million mortgage loan at a discount "without any reliance on the Tropicana trademarks as security -- because all parties recognized that the (Tropicana Las Vegas) debtors had no interest ownership or otherwise in the Tropicana trademarks."
Tropicana Las Vegas has not yet responded to the new lawsuit.
Court records show that during the bankruptcy case, Tropicana Entertainment proposed that the Las Vegas Tropicana pay $10 million for the rights to use the Tropicana name over five years -- a proposal Onex balked at.
The Las Vegas Tropicana has always asserted it shouldn't have to pay anyone for using its own 52-year-old name.
"Tropicana Las Vegas is the successor to all goodwill and trademark rights accrued over a period of approximately 52 years by its predecessor entities," the Las Vegas property's attorneys argued in a state court filing this summer.
"At all times it was understood and agreed by Tropicana Las Vegas and each person or entity owning Tropicana Las Vegas that, despite changes in ownership, Tropicana Las Vegas would continue to have the right to the use of its own name," the court filing said.
But the Icahn Tropicana company charges in the new lawsuit: "For more than 30 years, the (Tropicana Entertainment and Tropicana Las Vegas) debtors represented to the world that the Tropicana trademarks were owned by (Tropicana Entertainment). Among other things, billions of dollars of acquisitions, sales and loans were made based upon those representations."
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For crying out loud! There is only one Tropicana, and that is the property located at the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave. so named after that property which opened there in the late fifties..This is riduculous!
Hate to see the name go but the Tropicana does not have a great reputation of being a clean modern place even if they did remodel. Tell em to keep the name and call it something new. Change the theme too. Probably get more business. Especially from those not on top of thing thinking it's a new hotel. They can wash away all the bad Trop reviews away.
Hmm.... I don't necessarily believe that what Ican is doing is right, but he may have a point. The question is weather or not the paperwork matches to back up his claims. Tropicana Entertainment & Tropicana Las Vegas as debtors may have represented to the world that the Tropicana trademarks/hotel name may have been owned by them as a parent company, Tropicana Entertainment. But if they never actually made the change of ownership on paper, then then parent company, and by extension it's new owner Ican have no rights to it. It would certainly bring about more lawsuits dealing with past financial transactions and bankruptcies though. And I think that's what Ican is going for.
Tropicana goes through a HUGE and EXPENSIVE renovation. Ican now plans to bombard them with lawsuits they can't afford to properly fight in order to financially cripple them so he can swoop their property up for a fraction of the buying and renovation costs. Morally wrong, but if the courts allow him to do it, then he can.
So fine call it Tropicana Las Vegas stop the suit get it out of the courts and STOP WASTING taxpayer dollars running this through the legal system - I do not know anything about Icahn's - but I am really start to dislike him.
Tropicana makes a great premium orange juice. Just saying...
Icahn owns the name, period. He offered to allow Mr. Alex to use it for a fair and reasonable licensing fee of about $2 mill a year. Pay the fee or change the name. Mr. Alex and Onex bought a building and some real estate, they didn't buy the rights to the name.
Simply Change the name, it might do it some good to have a new name for a new remodeled establishment
Call it the TROP.
I think the Bankruptcy Jodge did not make it clear and Icahn is sniffing for money. What probably happened is the Judge sold the properites outside of Las Vegas to Icahn and the Las Vegas to Orex and gave no explanation regarding the name. Lacking clear direction, lawsuits follow.
So maybe name it after the street next to it.....Tropicana! Is Ichan going to start charging someone for the street name?
Personally, I still refer to one downtown casino as "Binion's Horseshoe" even though the Horseshoe name has been dropped.
Maybe they can go the "Federal Express" - "Fed-Ex" route, shorten the name to "The Trop".
Or maybe the "Original Tropicana".
Or THE NEW TROPICANA.
Imho the TROP shouldn't have to pay anyone for using its own 52-year-old name.
Would you try to charge me extra dime, because I use the famous actor's name "Chuck Norris" as my loginname/nickname here?
You got to be kidding me.
Personally i will sue the bankruptcy judge for not finishing his job...
Simply add to the name...... The official name should be "Tropicana Las Vegas"....... just Paris is called "Paris Las Vegas"...... Wynn is called "Wynn Las Vegas" .
This lawsuit is stupid. They should not have to pay for the name but I agree with all the other suggestions to change the name and be done with it. Make it "Tropicana Las Vegas" or simply "Trop". Nobody ever says the whole word anyway. Even tourists call it "The Trop". Rebranding might be the best thing for the property. Let that crybaby keep the name.
Just tweak some letters and call it the "Tropical" or "Tropics".
I think Ican is looking to name the Fontainebleau property the Tropicana
Obviously a lot of great legal minds posting here.
The Tropicana Hotel has been a fixture on the Las Vegas Strip for several decades. The name of Bond Road was changed to Tropicana Ave. in recognition of this historical establishment. I recall the days of glory when the Tropicana was the jewel of the Strip..first class in every respect. I'm not an expert on corporate legalites but hope the hotel can retain its world-famous imagine.