Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1999 | 11 a.m.
The New York-New York hotel-casino has won the first round of its legal battle with the New York Stock Exchange.
A federal judge in New York threw out the NYSE's trademark infringement lawsuit against the Strip casino Sept. 30, saying she believed "there is no evidence the casino's intent was to confuse the public."
The NYSE filed the lawsuit in May 1997, taking issue with a New York-New York facade featuring the words, "New York $lot Exchange," "New York New York Stock Exchange" and "NY$E." The exchange argued the facade and signs were "mutilating and bastardizing" the NYSE trademark, and "tarnished, blurred, diluted and disparaged" the exchange's reputation and trademark. The exchange sought triple the casino's profits since its opening on Jan. 3, 1997, and an order that would force New York-New York to remove the spoof signs.
"The theme of the casino is New York, and it consists of slightly or whimsically modified versions of famous New York landmarks," Judge Miriam Goldman Cederbaum wrote in her decision. "The 'New York Stock Exchange' mark is modified in a manner consistent with this theme ... even a minimally prudent customer would not be confused by the source or affiliation of the casino's services. The purchasing public must be credited with at least a modicum of intelligence."
NYSE spokesman Ray Pellecchia said the exchange believed the decision was "erroneous," and said it planned to appeal the decision.
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