A small jazz and blues club in Bethesda, Maryland, is being sued by Cordish Companies’ Maryland Live! Casino over use of the word “live” in its name. The Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club recently changed its name to Bethesda Live, hoping to plug its live entertainment program. Within days, a cease-and-desist letter from Maryland Live! Threatened legal action for trademark infringement. “Live! Holdings, LLC is the owner of the registered trademark ‘Live!’ and we are writing to object to your company’s contemplated use of ‘Bethesda Live’ in connection with an entertainment facility in Bethesda, Maryland,” the letter said. One local columnist called it “trademark bullying” by a huge company against a small business. • Konami Holdings Corp.’s gaming and systems division reported profit of approximately JPY1.59 billion (US$151.2 million) for the six months ended September 30, which it said was down 8.3 percent from a year earlier. The firm said a strengthening of Japan’s currency, the yen, had a negative impact on those of its divisional earnings that are denominated in U.S. dollars. • South Korean airline Jeju Air has inaugurated a new route from Macau to Seoul’s Incheon airport. According to statistics cited by airport marketing official Eric Fong, outbound travel from South Korea has become an important source market for Macau, and passengers of the Korean market from Macau International posted a growth of 85 percent from January to September 2016. The new route will operate on a daily basis. ? The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has filed a federal tax lien against Hong Kong Entertainment Overseas Investment Ltd., owner of Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino on Tinian Island in the Commonwealth of the Marianas Islands. The IRS is claiming about $594,000 in unpaid taxes by the group. CNMI is a U.S. territory. • A December 6 court date has been set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for The First Circuit in Boston for the appeal by the Wampanoag Tribe Of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of a federal judge’s decision that the tribe is bound by an agreement it signed in 1987 with the state of Massachusetts and the town of Aquinnah that bound it not to operate a casino. The tribe, claiming the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 supersedes that agreement, seeks to operate a Class II casino on Martha’s Vineyard. • The Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce has voted to endorse the $400 million casino with 2,000 slots, 84 gaming tables and 302-room hotel proposed by the Wilton Rancheria on nearly 40 acres near Highway 99 in Sacramento County. Angela Perry, chief executive officer and president of the Chamber, said the proposed project would generate new life in the existing Elk Grove mall where it would be located. “This project, along with the outlet mall, promises to bring people from all over the region,” said Perry. The tribe still requires federal approval to put the land into trust. • Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has warned the state’s card rooms that it must stop offering “designated player games,” which, it says, are illegal under state law. These games are too similar to “banked card games” such as blackjack, which are reserved to tribal casinos operated by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The department is acting after an administrative law judge ruled that the games were too similar. Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering Director Anthony Glover sent a letter to the seven racinos that offer the card games, giving them 30 days to appeal the order. The card rooms reportedly bring in an additional $10-$15 million each year.
