Las Vegas Sands suing website offering casino links

Hotel-casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. is suing a British website operator it says has misappropriated the Sands name.

Las Vegas Sands filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court for Nevada against Traffic Label Ltd., which has a French-language website using the domain name lasvegassandscorp.com

That site includes links to Internet casinos believed to be sharing click-through revenue with the site owner. Among top casino industry leaders, Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson is known for his opposition to the legalization in the United States of online gambling.

The site also has a rendering that includes the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign and shows the Las Vegas Strip.

It also has a Las Vegas guide featuring photos and descriptions of resorts and nightclubs.

Properties featured on the site are Mandalay Bay, the Palms, Wynn Las Vegas, Bellagio, Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace, Body English at the Hard Rock and Tao at Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian resort.

The problem with the website, Las Vegas Sands charged in its lawsuit, is that in using the lasvegassandscorp.com name, “defendant has passed off its website as the official corporate website of Las Vegas Sands Corp. in a manner that is likely to confuse, mislead or deceive consumers.”

“Consumers looking for the official Las Vegas Sands Corp. website are likely to enter

lasvegassandscorp.com into their web browsers to locate the official website,” Sands alleged.

The defendant couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit, which asks the court to shut down the website.

Sands is represented by the Las Vegas office of the law firm Lewis and Roca LLP.

Legal

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