Louis Vuitton Sues Maryland Live! Over Giveaway Bags

Louis Vuitton is not in the business of giving away merchandise to anyone who walks into a casino. In fact, it’s not in the business of giving away merchandise. A quick perusal of the company’s website shows handbags that start in the mid-four figures. 

So when Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover, Maryland started handing out monogrammed bags to rewards members this spring, the French fashion house noticed. Then it sued.

The complaint, filed June 1 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, accuses casino operators PPE Casino Resorts Maryland LLC and The Cordish Companies Inc. of trademark counterfeiting, trademark infringement, false association, trademark dilution, and Maryland common-law unfair competition.

At issue is an April promotion called “The Art of Luxury,” which gave away a handbag, toiletry case, backpack, and tote bag over four straight Tuesdays. The bags carried a pattern that looked an awful lot like Louis Vuitton’s famous monogram, with one small adjustment: The interlocking “LV” logo was replaced with the word “Live!”

Louis Vuitton did not take a “c’est la vie” attitude toward this promotion, saying in the complaint that it was a “a particularly brazen move” meant “to falsely convey to the consuming public that Louis Vuitton and Defendants’ Live Casino are affiliated.”

Patrons could grab the bags by redeeming 750 tier credits, the rewards points players earn by gambling, dining, and shopping at the casino. 

Cease, desist

Louis Vuitton said it sent a cease-and-desist letter on April 15. The casino emailed back two days later and said it would stop, according to the suit. Then, weeks later, Maryland Live! rolled out a second promotion, “Endless Elegance,” dangling a chance to win a share of $40,000 and a “luxury French Collection” of what the casino billed as genuine Louis Vuitton goods.

Louis Vuitton called the whole thing “part of a willful and multi-step initiative to lure patrons to their casinos to gamble, dine, and shop.”

The luxury house, founded in 1854, argued the giveaways cheapen the brand. The complaint said the casino’s conduct “diminishes the luxury image cultivated by Louis Vuitton.”

Louis Vuitton wants the knockoff bags destroyed, an ad campaign telling customers the products were fakes, and damages of up to $2 million per counterfeit mark per type of goods. It hired the law firm Steptoe LLP and demanded a jury trial. The case has landed before U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar.

WJZ-TV reported it reached out to Maryland Live! for comment and had not heard back.