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1675-1 The Tiffany Hotel mh SOBE IDENTITY CRISIS VINTAGE HOTELS MAY LOSE NAMES 08/14/1999 THE MIAMI HERALD Copyright (c) 1999, The Miami Herald DATE: Saturday, August 14, 1999 EDITION: Final SECTION: Local PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: photo: The Ritz Plaza (a) , the Tiffany (a) , the Shelborne (a) SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: By SARA OLKON, Herald Staff Writer SOBE IDENTITY CRISIS VINTAGE HOTELS MAY LOSE NAMES Miami Beach was trying to create its own little world of make believe when it ushered in hotels like the Cadillac, the Savoy, the Fairmont. It was the 1930s and '40s, a time when imitation was more about flattery than trademark violation. Hotel developers thought familiar, grand-sounding names would attract Northern snowbirds. Reality hit in the '90s: Now that SoBe is hot again, trademark owners are fighting to reclaim the names - and it could get ugly. The familiar but potentially vulnerable names of up to 30 of the Beach's historic hotels could be at risk. To safeguard SoBe's Art Deco cachet, the city is swinging into action. "I was upset, " said Rafael A. Ordonez, president of the company that owns what had been for 63 years the Fairmont Hotel. Last month the company began proceedings to change the name to "The Fairwind" after the Fairmont Hotels chain sued. There's a fear that a wave of name changes could erode the Beach's aesthetics. "It would be like repainting all the buildings a bleak color, " said Heidi Siegel, preservation director for the Miami Design Preservation League. David and Goliath "It's really a David and Goliath battle, " said Miami Beach Commissioner Nancy Liebman, who called the Fairmont name change "a travesty. " "The signs are, for the most part, part of the architecture. They are as important as other embellishments, " she said. As of Friday afternoon, the reception desk at the Fairmont was still taking reservations under its former name, but the Fairmont letters were missing from the outside structure. General Manager Richard Gonzalez said they were removed because the building was getting a fresh coat of paint. "Nothing has been finalized, " he said. However, Ordonez said his company had agreed to lose the name. He said the terms of a settlement were being worked out but that the chain has offered to help pay for name-change expenses. Officials at Fairmont Hotels were not available for comment. The Fairmont isn't the first to fall. Last year, the Tiffany Hotel lost its name after the New York jeweler, Tiffany & Co., sued. For 59 years, no one seemed to notice the inconspicuous Art Deco hotel, but that changed when owner Tony Goldman gave the building a chichi makeover by designer Todd Oldham. Tiffany & Co. argued in federal court that their name could be tainted or at least confused if used by the Collins Avenue hotel. However, in a settlement, the company agreed to allow the hotel to keep its spire: a stalk that reigns 24 feet above the building, the name Tiffany lit up in neon letters. In a bow to minimalism, the hotel was renamed "The Hotel. " Victim of success William Carey, the city's preservation director, said the city is falling victim to its own success. "Now that we are the hot, trend resort destination, some of these big, national chains are beginning to care, " he said. "We don't mean to infringe on anyone's trademark rights, but when it's been there 70 years, it seems a little late in the game. " Changes in federal trademark law haven't helped, said Marya Lenn Yee, a New York trademark lawyer who represented Goldman. Yee attributes the Tiffany and Fairmont suits to a 1996 amendment made to the 53-year-old Lanham Act, a federal act designed to protect consumers from deception. The amendment introduced the legal concept of "dilution, " the theory that a company's trademark could be "watered down" if used by another. The amendment "makes it a lot easier to exploit the law, " she said. "The retroactivity is what I find troublesome. There's a real character to South Beach . . . you don't keep that historic designation by making them change the Savoy to Joe Schmosville. It's kind of like knocking down pawns in a chess game. " To avoid checkmate, the city is fighting to change the law, or at least, working to secure an exception for the Beach. 'Harsh results' for city "It's not the easiest thing in the world, " said City Attorney Murray Dubbin, referring to the push to change federal legislation. He said the amendment has had "rather harsh" results for the city. "We have people who have used these names for well over half a century, " he said. "It's sort of a jolt. " The city is consulting with their D.C. lobbyist. Meanwhile, Liebman has gotten the ears of Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and E. Clay Shaw Jr. For now, some hotel owners just hope corporate America doesn't come knocking on their door. "I think it's very subjective, " said Bothwell Gonas, general manager for the Waldorf Towers, built in 1937. "If [a hotel] wants to fight it and had a million dollars to fight, I bet they would win. " In fact, when Ignacio Contreras bought the Ritz Plaza Hotel in 1989, he hired a lawyer to check on rights to the name. He was assured that his name was safe. "The Ritz is a very well-known name around the world, so your first concern is, 'Can we use the name?' " he said. "But people know [the Beach] is kind of a make-believe world. " For now, Gonas, too, said he feels secure. "If something was going to happen, it would have happened a long time ago. "