Chess Hall of Fame Fight Resumes
By MIKE HEUER
LAS VEGAS (CN) – Concerned that a court battle over the Chess Hall of Fame trademark would remain “idle” after two years, a federal judge affirmed an order lifting a stay.
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones on May 7 denied a motion objecting to a magistrate judge’s lifting of a stay on the case.
“The order presents a reasonable compromise between preventing potentially wasteful discovery efforts and ensuring that this case, which has sat idle for two years, does not remain stagnant,” Jones wrote in a 4-page order.
The World Chess Museum, which does business as the World Chess Hall of Fame, in St. Louis, sued the Las Vegas-based World Chess Federation and Stan Vaughan in February 2013, alleging trademark infringement.
The museum says it “exhibits one of the world’s premier collections of chess and chess-related artifacts, memorabilia, and artwork” and obtained the World Chess Hall of Fame mark from the France-based World Chess Federation. The museum says it registered the World Chess Hall of Fame mark in 2002.
Vaughan created Las Vegas-based World Chess Federation to organize chess tournaments and offer chess lessons, among other services, and in 2011 announced the opening of the World Chess Federation Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
The museum then sued the World Chess Federation and Vaughan.
Full article here.