Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 | 11:27 a.m.
The operator of the Fitzgeralds hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and around the country went to court Wednesday in hopes of shutting down a website it says is infringing on its trademarks.
Majestic Star Casino LLC filed suit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against companies it says operate the site www.fitzgeraldslasvegas.net, which Majestic Star says was registered in about March 2009 and has a name confusingly similar to Majestic Star's www.fitzgeraldslasvegas.com website.
Majestic Star, which has Fitzgeralds casinos in downtown Las Vegas; Tunica, Miss.; and Black Hawk, Colo., complained in the lawsuit that the defendants have diverted to their site Internet traffic looking for Majestic Star's authentic Fitzgeralds website.
The suit charges the defendants linked their website domain name to a site that offers online gambling and solicits business through an "online interactive gaming network.''
"By registering and using a domain name containing the Fitzgeralds marks, defendants were and are attempting to trade on the goodwill of Fitzgeralds resort hotels and casinos and Majestic Star,'' the lawsuit alleges.
The suit, filed by attorney John Krieger of the Las Vegas office of the law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, alleges trademark infringement, deceptive trade practices, cybersquatting and other counts.
The defendants are Hambledon N.V., Smart Answer S.A. and Susana Gonzales, all doing business in Panama, the lawsuit says. A message for comment was left with the defendants Thursday.
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