You might be familiar with Cost Plus World Market–they sell vaguely exotic home furnishings and foods. And you might have heard of the World Market Center–the big furniture “mart” in downtown Las Vegas that’s adding a new building every month. They’re not getting along. Now, the World Jewelry Center is jumping into the fray. From the LVBP:
The fight over the World Market Center name just became more muddled.
The furniture mart is already embroiled in a year-long dispute initiated by Cost Plus World Market, the California-based chain of stores that sells furniture and highbrow consumer goods.
Now, World Market Center is up against a prospective neighbor, World Jewelry Center, which filed a federal complaint Jan. 30 against the furniture showplace for threatening its trademark application.
Probity International Corp., the developer of the planned 1.1 million-square-foot jewelry mart, sued World Market Center after a letter was filed opposing its trademark application Jan. 2. The jewelry center responded with a complaint for declaratory relief in federal court Jan. 30. The lawsuit listed the plaintiff as Heritage-Nevada VIII LLC, which is the local arm of the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Probity. Heritage-Nevada’s attorneys cited “reasonable apprehension of litigation” by World Market as one of the grounds for the complaint.
Jewelry center officials said the furniture market left them with no choice but to sue.
“We tried to get World Market Center on the phone with little success,” Probity Chief Financial Officer Dan Parks said.
Las Vegas Business Press :: News : Jewelry Center asks judge to settle name dispute with World Market Center
I just find this kind of comical. I find it doubtful that someone’s going to go looking for a deal on a papasan chair, wander towards the World Market Center by mistake, but then get side-tracked into the World Jewelry Center and walk out with a bag of wholesale diamonds instead.
I used to think that company’s mis-spelling their names (c.f, Cingular, Embarq) was just another sign of the dumbing-down of America. But it’s actually a copyright issue. So while your grandfather might have kept his money at the First Federal Bank of Pennsylvania, you’ll probably end up with yours at KewlBanqq or something equally insipid
On the subject, Cox Communication’s FreeZone (which always makes me think of Hamsterdam) has a “Kidz” section. What’s the deal with putting a “z” on everything now? Are we just broadcasting our ineptitude?
Speaking of Baltimore, I saw a great movie last night called Darkon. It’s a very well-done documentary about Baltimoreans who play a very involved live action role-playing game. You’ve got to see it to believe it. The funny thing is, I think people go to casinos for exactly the same reasons that they swing foam swords at each other and adopt faux-medieval personalities: because they’re bored with their lives.