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Hard Rock Sues Morgans for Inappropriate Brand Use

Posted on September 27th, 2010

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Hard Rock Cafe International, the company responsible for licensing the world-famous brand among other things, is filing a lawsuit against one of the users of its brand, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Oklahoma. The lawsuit was filed at a U.S. District Court in New York last Tuesday. The defendants HR Holdings, HR Inc., HR IP, Morgans Hotel Group Co. and Morgan Management, which are sublicensors of the Hard Rock brands to Cherokee Nation Entertainment allegedly provide an experience both in their hotel and casino that is “incompatible” with the customer reputation the Hard Rock Café International brand aims for.

HRCI, which is based in Florida, has not yet made clear whether it will ask the court to bar the Hard Rock brand to be used in the casino, although the suit stated that “it wants to bar the defendants “or any third parties in privity with them” from using the Hard Rock name “. It may also be wise to take note that the Cherokee Nation Entertainment, which in 2008, obtained the license for the Hard Rock brand for its resort in Catoosa, was not named a defendant in the lawsuit. That may be because the lawsuit really aimed at Morgans Hotel and Morgans Management, which also operates Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which figures prominently in the suit as it is where the brand misuse occurs. HRCI alleges that the facility is a site of groups in “drunken debauchery.” Thus, the Catoosa resort is only a minor part of the lawsuit, and its operator, Cherokee Nation Entertainment is not included in the lawsuit.

The CEO of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, David Stewart, published a written statement, declaring that tribe has done its best to maintain the standards of keeping the Hard Rock brand. The statement continues with, “Hard Rock Casino Tulsa has always had a unique identity that combines the Hard Rock image with the music and people that make Oklahoma great. We value the Hard Rock brand, which is why we agreed to put their name on our new $120 million facility. Our service offerings and gaming experience here are second to none. We carefully use the Hard Rock marks as agreed upon in our licensing agreement with HRHH IP LLC and Hard Rock Hotel Holdings LLC. We are not a named defendant in the complaint and it is up to the parties named in the complaint to resolve this dispute.”

Meanwhile, the officials of HRCI also released a statement to members of the press in Oklahoma, stating that the lawsuit is a proactive move so that they could protect the Hard Rock brand’s integrity. The company says that the defendants have damaged the brand when it used several Hard Rock trademarks without authorization. To be specific, they said that “the range of services, character of the establishment and the experience offered to customers (at Hard Rock Tulsa) is incompatible with consumer expectations for goods and services branded with the Hard Rock marks. “ Moreover, HRCI also claims that the sign seen outside the Catoosa resort “is not one of the trademarks whose use or sublicensing is authorized by the License Agreement in this manner.”

HRCI also complained that the I Love This Bar & Grill restaurant owned by country singer Toby Keith has the Hard Rock brand lower to the name of the restaurant. HRCI claims that the defendants did not ask them for permission in a written manner, nor have they allowed the use of the trademark this way. The Toby Keith restaurant in Catossa is operated by Hal Smith Restaurant Group, based in Norman, OK. For the main portion of the suit, HRCI claims that Morgans, by allowing the cable reality show “Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel” on truTV to be filmed at the Las Vegas hotel-casino, has given the casino a party image, which has caused damaged to the brands reputation. The suit says that the show allegedly portrays the hotel-casino to be a site that “revels in drunken debauchery.”
Moreover, the casino-hotel’s staffed is seen as “unprofessional, incompetent and/or physically and emotionally abusive to hotel guests and other staff.” Another Hard Rock facility operated by Morgans that is also included in the suit is the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Albuquerque, N.M., because the logo the facility used was inconsistent.