The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority sued an Arizona pawn shop on Monday, claiming it’s using the trademarked "Only Vegas" logo without authorization.
A lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Stop and Sell LLC, owner of Vegas Pawn in Scottsdale.
The suit complains Vegas Pawn has been using the logo in connection with its business and on its website www.vegaspawn.com.
The LVCVA said in the complaint it’s been using the "Only Vegas" trademark and logo since at least 2002 "in connection with promoting the Las Vegas area as a destination for leisure and business travelers."
The suit says the LVCVA has spent "substantial sums" to advertise, promote and protect the logo in print, radio, television and online media including LVCVA websites www.visitlasvegas.com and www.lvcva.com.
The Arizona pawn shop, in the meantime, has a logo using the stylized "Vegas" lettering and font, the suit says. Also, the LVCVA logo has the word "only" in a block design and the pawn shop has the word "pawn" in the same block design, the suit says.
"Even a cursory comparison of the Vegas Pawn logo and the Only Vegas logo demonstrates their striking similarities," the lawsuit charges.
"Given that the Only Vegas logo and the Vegas Pawn logo are nearly identical, consumers are likely to believe that Vegas Pawn has licensed LVCVA’s Only Vegas logo to assist Vegas Pawn in promoting its pawn business, when in fact it has not," the lawsuit says.
"Vegas Pawn’s incorporation of the most distinctive elements of the Only Vegas logo demonstrates that Vegas Pawn intended to trade off the goodwill associated with the LVCVA’s valuable trademark," the suit says.
"Defendant began using the Vegas Pawn logo in commerce years after LVCVA’s Only Vegas logo became famous in Nevada," the suit says.
A manager at the Scottsdale pawn shop said Monday he didn’t know anything about the lawsuit and declined further comment.
The Las Vegas lawsuit asserts counts of trademark infringement and unfair competition and seeks a court order blocking the Arizona firm from using the logo or portions of it.
The LVCVA is represented in the litigation by attorneys with the Las Vegas office of the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.
Jeremy Handel, an LVCVA spokesman, said there are no other pending actions over LVCVA trademarks.
"We reached out to the business several times and received no response. We filed suit in federal court to get an injunction to prevent the business from continuing to use our mark or similar logo. The approach is standard procedure when defending a trademark," Handel said.