Cotai Strip®?

Filed Under Macau, Macao, Cotai, Las Vegas Sands

If you’re like me (and hopefully you’re not) then you’ve probably been a little perplexed as to why a trademark symbol always follows the use of the word “Cotai Strip” by Las Vegas Sands.

Until now, the only explanation I’ve been able to find is from Wikipedia’s “Cotai Strip” entry:

“Las Vegas Sands currently has a trademark application pending with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the name “Cotai Strip”. However, the name Cotai Strip is used generically by the press, as well as other Cotai Strip casino companies, such as Melco-PBL and Galaxy Entertainment, in their financial filings and websites. ”

That sounds like a prett good explanation, but it’s always left me pondering two questions:

If Las Vegas Sands is claiming a trademark, then why do I see other companies and reporters using “Cotai Strip” so frequently?
How can you a trademark an area of land - the Las Vegas Strip couldnt be trademarked, could it?

Well now it looks like many of my questions have been answered. Macau Business must have been reading my mind because the publication has written a very nice article on the topic of the trademarking of the Cotai Strip. If you find this as interesting as me, I highly recommend reading through the article.

I’ll try and summarize it in a few quotes from the piece below, but once again, read it since it’s very detailed.

Las Vegas Sand’s use of the term “Cotai Strip”…”could be problematic because “Cotai Strip”(tm) is a geographic indicator and the area of land known as Cotai existed before LVS arrived on the scene.”

“Both Richey and Simoes (two attorneys quoted in the article) concur that given the generic nature of Adelson’s trademarks, there is a good chance he will not prevail and that it is unlikely he can prevent others from using them. Most importantly, they also agree that the real test of whether Adelson has a ‘legal leg’ to stand on depends on the willingness of his competitors in the gaming and hotel industries to challenge him in court. Only then will we know whether his sweeping trademarks will pass legal muster. “

Note: Cotai Strip is a trademark of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Comments

One Response to “Cotai Strip®?”

Cotai Strip « Cotai Strip Macao on January 11th, 2008 5:02 am

[…] Cotai Strip Filed under: Cotai, Cotai Strip, Cotai Strip Casinos, Cotai Strip Macao, Cotai Strip hotels, Macau casinos — Cotai Macau @ 12:02 pm There is a really interesting post over at Trevor’s Cotai Strip blog that discusses whether or not Las Vegas Sands has the right to trademark the term Cotai Strip. […]

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