LAS VEGAS, Nevada—In a case pitting two Las Vegas strip clubs against one another, each claiming the exclusive right to the "crazy horse" name, Crazy Horse Too has won the right to continue using the same name it has used since it opened its doors in 1984 under the ownership of Rick Rizollo and The Power Company.
According to the court, Crazy Horse Too was seized by the feds in 2007 following a violation of a plea agreement by Rizollo, who also served time in jail for tax violations. In 2011, the club was purchased for $3 million by Canico Capital Group, LLC, which, along with defendants Mike Galam, Victor Galam, Jacqueline Galam Barnes, Rhino Bare Projects LLC, Rhine Bare Projects 4824 LLC, and Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen's Club LLC, are defendants in the now adjudicated case involving the trademarked name.
The new owners of the club faced some immediate problems: the club's liquor and entertainment licenses had been allowed to expire by the feds, who took years to find a new buyer, and the continuing use of the name was also now in dispute and being potentially exploited by plaintiff Russell Road Food and Beverage, LLC, which has owned and operated Crazy Horse III since 2009, and was now claiming exclusive right to the "crazy horse' trademark.
"On May 5, 2013, the court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the defendant from operating their strip club under the name 'Crazy Horse Too,'" wrote U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan in his Feb. 10, 2014 order. "On May 22, 2013, the court held a preliminary injunction hearing. During the hearing, defendants argued that a preliminary injunction would not be appropriate because they had evidence demonstrating that they had purchased all of the property associated with the Crazy Horse Too, including its trademarks.
"Despite their claims," he continued, "the documentation submitted by defendants indicated only that they had purchased the real property associated with the Crazy Horse Too. As a result, the court found that a preliminary injunction preventing defendants from using the name was warranted. The court issued the preliminary injunction that same day."
The defendants then appealed to the Ninth Circuit, and then filed a motion to reconsider the preliminary injunction, "this time providing a guaranty agreement showing that The Power Company, Inc. had used the intellectual property of the Crazy Horse Too as part of the collateral for the loan upon which defendants had foreclosed.
"At that time," he added, "the court did not have jurisdiction to modify the preliminary injunction due to the pending appeal before the Ninth Circuit. However, the court issued an indicative statement that the defendant's motion had raised a substantial motion that may warrant reconsideration. The Ninth Circuit has now remanded the appeal for the limited purpose of allowing the district court to consider whether the preliminary injunction should be vacated."
Within a day, Mahan reversed his previous decision barring the defendants from using the Crazy Horse Too name.
“I am extremely happy with Judge Mahan’s ruling," said Michael Galam. "We are excited to move forward from today as the Crazy Horse Too. We own the original name and are at the original location … that says it all. This has been a long unnecessary legal battle.
"We all agreed to play nice and go our separate ways, but they did not want to play nice," he added. "We were forced into a legal fight that we didn’t want to have. Prevailing from the truths that we own the name and the intellectual property, all we can do now is move forward, while we do everything in our power to prevent anyone else from ever using our name. And that is exactly what I plan to do.”
Crazy Horse Too, located at 2476 Industrial Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, is open 24 hours a day and offers entertainment and some of the best prices in Las Vegas.
Judge Mahan's Feb. 10 order (attached to a Feb. 14 Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss Appeal by the court) can be read here.
Image: Exterior of Crazy Horse Too.
