ritzcasinoclub.com

The Ritz Casino is variously referred to by its members and by members of the public as the "Ritz Club" and the "Ritz Casino."

The Complainant Ellerman has trademark registrations for the words RITZ CLUB in class 41 for gaming in the following countries:

The Complainant Ellerman has many other pending trademark registrations for the trademarks RITZ, THE RITZ CLUB and RITZ CASINO for gaming services throughout the world.

There is substantial goodwill in the RITZ, RITZ CASINO and RITZ CLUB names and trademarks. This goodwill has been generated world-wide as a result of the extensive reputation of the Ritz Casino and the substantial investment which has been made by the Complainants and their predecessors in the marketing and promotion of the Ritz Casino.

The Ritz hotel is one of the most well known hotels in the world. In the last two years approximately 62,000 guests stayed at the Ritz hotel. Approximately 75% of them were international visitors.

The Ritz hotel generated total revenue of £17.3 million in 2001 and £17.5 million in 2002.

The fame of the Ritz hotel was acknowledged in the book "The World’s Greatest Brands" by Interbrand and edited by Nicholas Kochan. In that book the Ritz hotel is described as "one of the most prestigious hotels in the world" and the "Ritz" brand in the category of leisure and travel is ranked 9^th of the world’s greatest brands.

The Ritz hotel and the Ritz Casino are the subject of several books and songs. The famous song "Puttin’ on the Ritz" by Irving Berlin is about the Ritz hotel in London.

In addition books, such as "The London Ritz – A Social and Architectural History" by Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd and David Watkin, and "The Ritz Hotel London" by Marcus Binney have been written about the Ritz hotel. Many articles in magazines and newspapers have also been written about the Ritz hotel and the Ritz Casino.

There has been a licensed casino operating in the former ballroom of the hotel since 1978. The casino is referred to by its members and members of the public as the "Ritz," the "Ritz Casino" or the "Ritz Club." For the last 23 years it has been one of, if not the premier casino in London, attracting custom from many wealthy and well-known people from all over the world. So far as the Complainants are aware, it is the only casino operating anywhere in the world which is known by the names "Ritz," "Ritz Club" and "Ritz Casino."

The Ritz Casino used to be run by a group of companies led by the parent company London Clubs International plc ("LCI"). LCI opened and ran the Ritz Casino in 1978. The "Ritz" brand then was used under licence from Ritz London and was developed by LCI as its "flagship" brand. This was demonstrated extensively in corporate literature and promotional materials throughout the 20 years of LCI’s involvement in running the Ritz Casino.

When LCI was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, the flotation document stated:

"The Ritz Club has been operating since 1978 in the former ballroom of the Ritz hotel. It is London Clubs’ most exclusive club catering to a small yet high spending international clientele. It is the "flagship" of the Group and an important factor in maintaining London Clubs’ international profile…The Ritz, as illustrated by the results of recent years, is a very successful operation…It is a very upmarket and select club run exclusively for major players."

The importance of the "Ritz" brand to LCI as its flagship casino meant that there was a huge investment in the world-wide promotion and marketing of the brand. The Ritz Casino was the first casino to become involved in international marketing and the many events arranged and/or sponsored by LCI proved to be very successful and received a great deal of publicity.

Between 1990 and 1998, LCI spent the following sums on promotion and marketing of the Ritz Casino in the UK and internationally:

This investment by LCI (the majority of which was spent overseas) included the following:

1. sponsorship of sporting events and charity events world-wide including events in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and Cyprus; these events have taken place annually for many years; a summary of the sporting events is below; the exposure of the Ritz, Ritz Casino and Ritz Club name as a result of these events has been huge, particularly because of the extensive television, newspaper, and more recently Internet coverage of sporting events;

2. "wining and dining" members and potential members by Customer Relations Officers who are employed by the Complainant Ritz;

3. placement of advertisements and other promotional articles in many magazines, both UK and foreign;

4. through one of LCI’s subsidiaries, Mayfair Maritime Casinos Limited, LCI ran casinos on board a number of prestigious cruise ships owned by Cunard and Celebrity Cruises; these casinos held "Ritz Club" nights on the ships where the casinos onboard were decorated to look like the Ritz Casino in London.

In addition both LCI and the Complainants have produced their own magazines which promote the Ritz Casino. LCI’s magazine "Cachet" was first produced in the early 1980’s and was circulated to all the members of all of LCI’s casinos. The Complainants’ magazine, which was first published in Winter/Spring 2000, is also circulated to Ritz Casino members. The Complainant Ritz carries out various other forms of promotion for the Ritz Casino, including special country themed dinners, sponsorship of sporting events overseas and the provision of gifts to members.

In the summer of 1998, LCI’s lease for the premises at the Ritz expired and LCI transferred its gaming licence to new premises in St James’s Street. When the lease terminated, so did LCI’s licence to use the "Ritz" trademark. The Complainant Ritz took over running the Ritz Casino in 1998. When it did so, the Complainant Ritz continued the promotion of the Ritz Casino world-wide. Since then, the Complainants have continued to expand and develop the very substantial goodwill and reputation in the UK and throughout the world for probity, quality and elegance in the provision of gaming services.

The Complainant Ritz’s expenditures on marketing and promotion of the Ritz Casino since taking over from LCI are as follows:

The majority of the marketing and promotional expenditure is directed at foreign nationals, whether existing or potential clients because approximately 98% of the revenue of the Ritz Casino derives from overseas members.

The turnover of the Ritz Casino for the years 1994-2000 was as follows:

During the financial year to December 31, 2001, the cash drop at the Ritz Casino was in excess of £141 million, producing a net gaming win (turnover) exceeding £15 million. Drops in other years were of a similar percentage in terms of the ratio of the net win to the overall drop.

Throughout its existence the Ritz Casino has drawn its clientele from all over the world This reputation is not limited to the United Kingdom but extends world-wide. Its world-wide reputation is due to the mobile nature of the clients of the Ritz Casino, the majority of whom are foreigners or frequent travelers from the Far East and the Middle East. As at May 2003, the Ritz Casino had 7891 members, of which only 2347 were British. Members of the Ritz Casino come from 76 different countries (excluding the UK).

Since September 2002, the Complainants have provided, via a related company, gaming services online over the Internet. A website for online gaming services has been launched at the domain name <theritzclublondon.com>, which is owned by the Complainant Ellerman. The domain name <ritzcasino.com>, which also is owned by the Complainant Ellerman, forwards automatically to the "www.theritzclublondon.com" site. This website contains information about the Complainants’ land based casino from which there is a link to the "www.theritzclublondon.com" site.

The Complainant Ellerman’s policy is to protect the reputation attached to the Ritz trademarks by monitoring the registration of trademarks and domain names which contain the word "Ritz" by means of a trademark and domain name watching services. As a result of using these monitoring services, the Complainant Ellerman became aware in approximately January 2003 that the Respondent had registered the subject domain name.

The Complainant Ellerman employs a trademark watching service on the trademark RITZ and never received any notices of any applications for the trademarks RITZ, RITZ CLUB or RITZ CASINO by the Respondent.

As far as the Complainants are aware, the Respondent has no trademark rights in the marks RITZ, RITZ CASINO or RITZ CLUB.

The Complainant Ellerman has not granted the Respondent a licence to use the subject domain name.

The website to which the subject domain name resolves purports to be an online casino portal. It offers visitors the chance to play slot machines at a casino or bingo or sports betting. It claims to have over 600 casinos and sports book operators and to have identified which offer the highest rewards and bonuses for players, although the links on the left hand side of the page are not yet in operation. It also offers an "Affiliate" scheme for Webmasters, whereby Webmasters are paid commissions on players routed through their site.

The Complainants’ authorized representative wrote to the Respondent on March 7, 2003, setting out the Complainants’ rights in the Ritz Trademarks and requesting that the Respondent transfer the subject domain name to the Complainants. No response was received.

The Respondent did not participate formally in this proceeding, but on May 12, 2003, the Respondent wrote to the Center as follows:

"My name is Al Cleary, and I own the Domain Name, "www.ritzcasinoclub.com" and I run The Ritz, a Dinner Theatre and Restaurant in Scranton Pennsylvania. I am relatively new to the Internet so you will have to bear with me for not understanding the procedures or terms associated with a lot of the information in your complaint. If I was not able to use the domain Ritz Casino Club, then why was I able to purchase it from Network Solutions? Doesn’t the fact that we run a business with the name Ritz have any bearing on any of this?

"If the THE RITZ HOTEL CASINO LIMITED, wants to purchase this domain from me I am more then willing to sell it, if they are willing to cover the expenses I have incurred in creating this website, and printing, letterhead, etc. I am not a scam artist trying to make a fast buck. I am a hard working businessman, who right now feels like I am being bullied by big business.

"I am very open to discussion on this matter. I can be contacted by email at [email protected]."

On May 16, 2003, the Complainant responded to the letter with an e-mail attached letter offering to pay the Respondent’s out-of-pocket expenses of registering the subject domain name. No reply has been provided to the Administrative Panel.