Genting Berhad and Wynn Resorts have settled an intellectual property dispute regarding the design of Resorts World Las Vegas, which is currently under construction.
In a joint statement, Genting said that it agreed to make a few changes to the design of the $4-billion casino resort, for it to be more distinct from Wynn properties.
The Malaysian operator’s Senior Vice-President of Public Affairs and Development Michael Levoff said, “While the company believes the design to have had differences with Wynn and Encore’s once fully realized, after further consideration and conversations with the Wynn team, we have directed our design team to make several changes that will clearly differentiate the two properties.”
He added, “This mutually beneficial settlement will allow Genting to continue to develop Resorts World Las Vegas with minimal impact to cost and the overall project timeline.”
Wynn Chief Communications Officer Michael Weaver said, “Resorts World Las Vegas’ initial design had elements which had similarity to our resorts in Las Vegas, Macau and Boston. The new design changes offered by Genting will resolve the concerns we expressed about the similarity of the design… We welcome and look forward to Resorts World Las Vegas’ opening. Their future success will benefit all of Las Vegas.”
Prior to the settlement, Genting had warned that stopping construction would cost about $169 million, and mean laying off 500 workers, or about one-third of the entire on-site team. It also argued that a similarity between the appearance of RWLV and that of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore across the street from it, was “speculative extrapolation.”
To further prove its point, it submitted pictures of what RWLV would look like when completed, displaying a difference from the distinctive Wynn look of curved, bronze windows and horizontal banding over a concave façade.
Wynn, on the other hand, had expressed doubt that the pictures were part of Genting’s original plan, being dated after the filing of the lawsuit last December 21.
Although Genting had purchased the property where RWLV sits back in 2013, the casino resort’s construction has been delayed several times. It is now scheduled to open in late 2020, and will include several hotels with a total of 3,400 rooms, retail establishments, a dining area, a next-generation gaming space, and a venue specifically for “top-tier nightlife” activities.
