Las Vegas Injury Lawyers Blog

The flow of money is never ending in our economy; it jumps switching hands from one person to the next with the only resistance coming in the form of how quickly we can spend it. However having money flow in your direction is an entirely different matter, in fact for many people it is the only matter.

To begin there are a plethora of tools businesses and people use to get money to flow in their direction and one of the most useful is marketing. If nobody knows who you are they certainly can never give you money thereby marketing holds significant value. It can turn words like Disney World into mood bombs if said around young children can turn them into craving maniacs.

We all know marketing has power and influence but it doesn't come cheap. Recently the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has gotten into a suit over violations of its "Only Vegas" logo.

The logo established itself in TV commercials portraying Las Vegas as the city of secret adult fun. The commercials often leave the viewer with more questions than answers, which may be the reason the ads have been so successful. Each mysterious scene is subsequently followed by the "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas slogan" which has come to be synonymous with the city's image.

Through the efforts of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, who established the campaign, Las Vegas now has a reputation to uphold and protect. Due to the massive amounts of money used in this campaign and the publicity associated with the slogan it is clear why it must be protected. Anyone trying to use the "good name" of Vegas to promote their products could damage the brand and potentially harm our local economy. It is for these very good reasons that suit was brought against Vegas Pawn an Arizona based pawn shop.

The shop has used the same style lettering as the "Only Vegas" logo on its shirts and on its website. This has presented a very substantial problem for the LVCVA because they claim it can be easy for people to believe Las Vegas endorses this pawnshop when it in fact does not. The use of someone else's established logo is illegal and the LVCVA alleges trademark infringement and unfair competition in its suit.

This pawnshop is effectively siphoning off the marketing that has already been done for Las Vegas without approval or authorization. It has dodged putting forth any effort of its own to market itself and hopes to profit from other's work. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and LVCVA says that it attempted to resolve the matter in a non-legal manner first but was ignored. What is disappointing is that a great marketing campaign ensures a successful business future but unfortunately has the potential to be targeted for copyright infringement.

A full article can be found here: LVCVA sues Arizona pawnshop over 'Only Vegas' logo

Our law firm does not represent anybody in this incident. The commentary is for educational purposes only. If you or someone you know has been a victim of illegal activity against your business and would like to be represented by a Las Vegas Business Lawyer, contact our office for a free confidential case review and receive a response within hours. Call Toll Free 866-414-0400.

Monopoly is a great board game and one that has entertained families for decades. The game revolves around pieces jumping around a board buying up properties. Once enough of the same types of property are bought a monopoly can be formed whereby players can begin charging double for landing on their monopoly. This innocent game is reflective of a real life monopoly whereby one company is allowed to charge outrageously high prices because it controls a majority, if not all of the market share.

Originally monopolies were found all over the United States but as time went on their detrimental effects were realized quickly. Monopolies had a power that no other corporation had before it; the power to set a price to whatever they felt it should be and consumers were forced to oblige. Without any competitors to turn to monopolies ruled over entire industries with iron fists forcing consumer's to empty their wallets and leaving them no alternative. This was until the early 1900's with the utilization of the Sherman Act, which banned monopolistic behavior. Monopolies have been struggling to elude government sanctions from that time on.

Both the government and other businesses enforce laws against monopolies. It is the civic duty of every business to report and prevent a monopoly from taking over when deemed illegal. Lens.com has done just that in a filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Nevada against 1-800 Contacts Inc.

Reportedly 1-800 Contacts is the world's greatest seller of contacts but success alone doesn't make for a monopoly or a lawsuit against one. Going after a monopoly requires finding illegal behavior whereby a company forces its success through dishonest and strong-arm means rather than good marketing and product alone. Within the lawsuit 1-800 Contacts is accused of abuse of process and unfair competition.

Abuse of process is a means whereby people use the courts improperly to file suits perhaps to cause delay or duress. In this case Lens.com claim that 1-800 Contacts has filed frivolous lawsuits against it in an effort to reduce Lens.com productivity and cause duress over trademarks. Abuse of Process can be used many different ways as a means to unsettle opponents.

Unfair competition is broad term that encompasses many aspects relating directly with antitrust laws. It includes practices that limit the fairness of competition and the removal of conditions that apply to all competitors and changing them as to apply to a select group. These conditions don't take on an illegal form however until they are conducted intentionally with the hopes to gain an advantage over competitors. Lens.com cites 1-800 Contacts as restricting information that is not eligible to be restricted. Business can be difficult but if it is not fair then it is not fair and that becomes the queue for the government to step in and hammer things out.

A full article can be found here: Nevada lawsuit alleges monopoly practices by contact lens firm

Our law firm does not represent anybody in this incident. The commentary is for educational purposes only. If you or someone you know has been a victim of illegal activity against your business and would like to be represented by a Las Vegas Business Lawyer, contact our office for a free confidential case review and receive a response within hours. Call Toll Free 866-414-0400.