A bankruptcy judge in Delaware Friday gave the green light to a lawsuit by Donald and Ivanka Trump that seeks to reclaim the Trump name from the troubled Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City.
The ruling is a victory for the Trumps, who say the battered casino operation, which is struggling to get out of bankruptcy, isn't worthy of their luxury brand. Filed last year in New Jersey, the Trump brand lawsuit has been stalled due to the September bankruptcy filing by Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.
Lawyers for Trump Entertainment couldn’t immediately be reached Friday for comment. The company has disputed claims in the New Jersey brand lawsuit that it had failed quality tests and argued it is entitled to keep using the Trump name.
Afflicted by the financial woes of the Atlantic City Boardwalk gambling industry, Trump Taj Mahal teetered on the brink of closure for months, threatening the Trump brand, lawyers for the Trumps contend.
“The value of the brand is at an all-time high right now,” said Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, the main holding company for Mr. Trump’s businesses. “That’s why there’s been such a knockdown, drag-out fight.”
Mr. Trump hasn't been involved in management of the company for some years, but retained a slice of equity and permitted the casino operation to use the Trump name. The suit by Mr. Trump and his daughter says the casino company’s distressed condition means it isn’t holding up its end of the deal, and is no longer entitled to use the name.
Judge Kevin Gross lifted the automatic stay that protects casino owner Trump Entertainment Resorts from hostile legal action while it is operating under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company’s bankruptcy exit plan is out for vote and a settlement announced Thursday with the official committee representing unsecured creditors improves the chances the plan will make it through court.
However, whether the company that comes out of bankruptcy will bear the Trump name is a decision that will be made by the New Jersey court in which the Trumps sued, under the ruling Friday from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
Mr. Garten said he expects Trump Entertainment to continue litigating in an effort to hang on to the name once action resumes in New Jersey state court. Michael Sirota, who represented the Trumps in the bankruptcy battle said the company “expended substantial resources” in an effort to keep the Trump brand lawsuit from proceeding.
Judge Gross found the company has no right to assign the trademark license agreement that entitles it to exclusive use of the Trump name to anyone else, unless the Trumps consent.
Billionaire Carl Icahn , Trump Entertainment’s secured lender, will control the reorganized company, assuming the chapter 11 plan is voted through, and ultimately approved in court.
During the bankruptcy case, the Trump Plaza was closed, and the company agreed to remove the name.
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