LAS VEGAS MGM Resorts International’s Monte Carlo Resort and Casino is suing a national restaurant chain that positions itself as a video arcade for adults over an identical marketing slogan.
Dave & Buster’s Inc., which has 57 properties across North America, has issued a cease and desist order to the Las Vegas Strip resort to stop using the marketing phrase “eat drink play,” which the Dallas-based company has trademarked. But rather than agree to stop using the slogan, Monte Carlo is suing Dave & Buster’s in U.S. federal court seeking the cancellation of its trademark.
In its cease and desist letter issued last month, Dave & Buster’s claims that Monte Carlo’s use of the phrase creates “a significant prospect that consumers may assume a false connection or association between Dave & Buster’s and Monte Carlo,” Vegas Inc reports. But lawyers for Monte Carlo contend that the words “eat,” “drink” and “play” are used in a descriptive sense and are not associated with any particular business or brand in the minds of consumers.