{"id":24932,"date":"2014-09-28T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T17:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=24932"},"modified":"2014-09-26T14:29:02","modified_gmt":"2014-09-26T21:29:02","slug":"mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM Sues Medical Marijuana Biz Over Trademark Infringement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MGM
MGM Resorts International accuses a medical marijuana company of \u201ctarnishing\u201d its M life customer loyalty rewards brand program. (Image: politico.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MGM Resorts International has launched a lawsuit against a medical marijuana company which, it believes, is infringing its trademark rights. As the outlets of Nevada\u2019s newest industry proudly set up shop, MGM has been spooked by one such company, which is using the name M Life Inc and plans to open a dispensary in Las Vegas to be called M\u2019Life Wellness.<\/p>\n

M life [sic] also happens to be the name of MGM\u2019s customer rewards program, which it employs at 15 of its casinos, including Strip properties like Bellagio, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and New York-New York.<\/p>\n

For out-of-towners, marijuana has been legal for medicinal purposes in Nevada since 2000. Then the state passed a bill in 2013 that would allow businesses to dispense the drug, and gave the go-ahead for 66 licenses throughout the state. While the distribution of medical marijuana is legal under Nevada state law, of course, it is still officially considered a federal crime.<\/p>\n

Gambling Joints<\/h2>\n

Lest there be any confusion about what really goes on at the \u201chigh-roller\u201d rooms in the Bellagio, MGM<\/a> has chosen to aggressively defend its trademark in a federal court, following the rejection of a cease-and-desist letter it sent to M Life Inc. According to the lawsuit, MGM holds six federal trademarks connected to M life, and has \u201cspent tens of millions of dollars\u201d promoting the rewards program through marketing and multimedia advertising. M life even has its own \u201cTV channel,\u201d which is looped and beamed into the casinos.<\/p>\n

MGM is suing M Life Inc for trademark dilution and unfair competition. It is also claiming cybersquatting in relation to the url mlifewellness.com. The brand similarity \u201cconstitutes dilution by tarnishment,\u201d states the lawsuit, and has \u201ccreated an association in the mind of the consuming product,\u201d between the M life loyalty program and the marijuana business that further harms the brand, says MGM.<\/p>\n

M\u2019Life Inc, meanwhile, has registered M\u2019Life Nevada and M\u2019Life Wellness as trademarks in Nevada, but cannot do so on a federal level, because the marijuana business is illegal.<\/p>\n

Uneasy Relationship<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not the first time that the uneasy relationship that exists between the casinos and Nevada\u2019s newest industry has been highlighted in the press. The Gaming Control Board recently issued a stern decree that none of its license holders may have anything to do with the state\u2019s legalization of the\u00a0medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0trade. This has led to a handful of casino executives giving up interests in medical marijuana companies, including marketing executive for Real Gaming, Tom Mikovits, and one, Troy Herbst, leaving the gaming industry for his medical marijuana interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless the federal law is changed, the board does not believe investment or other involvement in a medical marijuana facility or establishment by a person who has received a gaming approval or applied for a gaming approval is consistent with the effective regulation of gaming,\u201d said a recent statement, written by Gaming Control Board member Terry Johnson. \u201cFurther, the board believes that any such investment or involvement by gaming licensees or applicants would tend to reflect discredit upon gaming in the state of Nevada.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, without a federally registered trademark, it would seem that M Life Inc might be in trouble. Ignoring a cease-and-desist letter from a multibillion dollar casino giant could lead some to ask what exactly these guys are smoking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MGM Resorts International has launched a lawsuit against a medical marijuana company which, it believes, is infringing its trademark rights. As the outlets of Nevada\u2019s newest industry proudly set up shop, MGM has been spooked by one such company, which is using the name M Life Inc and plans to open a dispensary in Las […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":24940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMGM Sues Medical Marijuana Biz Over Trademark Infringement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MGM Resorts International launches lawsuit against medical marijuana company over M life brand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MGM Sues Medical Marijuana Biz Over Trademark Infringement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MGM Resorts International launches lawsuit against medical marijuana company over M life brand.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-28T17:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-09-26T21:29:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/MGM-Resorts-sues-medical-marijuana-company.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"605\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"329\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/\",\"name\":\"MGM Sues Medical Marijuana Biz Over Trademark Infringement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/MGM-Resorts-sues-medical-marijuana-company.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-28T17:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-26T21:29:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"MGM Resorts International launches lawsuit against medical marijuana company over M life brand.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-sues-medical-marijuana-biz-trademark-infringement\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/MGM-Resorts-sues-medical-marijuana-company.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/MGM-Resorts-sues-medical-marijuana-company.jpg\",\"width\":605,\"height\":329,\"caption\":\"MGM Resorts International accuses a medical marijuana company of \u201ctarnishing\u201d its M life customer loyalty rewards brand program. 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