Privé Vegas, LLC v. Politz [1]

Privé Vegas, LLC and two of its owners sued Las Vegas-based blogger Michael Politz in August 2008, alleging trademark infringement, dilution, and "disaparagement" under the Lanham Act [2], defamation, trade libel, tortious interference with business relations, and extortion. The company operates a nightclub called "Privé [3]" in the Planet Hollywood Casino [4] in Las Vegas.  Politz operates the TheVegasEye.com [5] blog, which covers goings-on in the Las Vegas entertainment and hospitality industries and provides restaurant reviews and reports on celebrity sightings and the like.

According to the complaint [6], filed in federal district court in Nevada, Politz published a post [7] on July 23, 2008 reporting on a lawsuit Privé brought against four former employees. In his post, Politz allegedly made false statements about the lawsuit and about management "shaking down" employees for tip money to be placed in a "Slush Fund." Cmplt. ¶ 20. At the top of his post, Politz included a graphic of  Privé's trademark (shown on the right).

In addition, on August 12, 2008, Politz allegedly posted [8] on his blog an anonymous letter to the State of Nevada Gaming Control Board [9], which purported to be written by a former employee of Privé.  The letter made a number of allegedly defamatory statements, including that Privé forced employees to work late hours without pay, that management sold drugs through the nightclub, and that management allowed underaged girls to enter the club and served them liquor. Cmplt. ¶¶ 25, 28, 30, 32, 33. At the top of the post, Politz included a graphic of the Privé trademark surrounded by a red circle with a line through it:

The nightclub filed suit in federal court after Politz did not comply with a demand letter sent in August.