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Lawyers: Judge rules that previous owners have rights to Hard Rock Park's theme
A federal bankruptcy judge ruled today that some of Hard Rock Park's intellectual property rights still belong to the park's previous owners, who are asking the park's new owners for royalties and a licensing fee, according to attorneys involved in the case.
The $400 million park, which opened in April and closed in bankruptcy in September, was purchased in February by FPI MB Entertainment for $25 million. But Steven Goodwin, the park's former CEO, says the park's overall theme still belongs to a corporation he heads.
In court filings, FPI MBE said the royalty request jeopardized the park's planned Memorial Day opening. An attorney for FPI MBE, though, said the park will still open on time despite the judge's ruling.
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Opening day set for Freestyle Music Park
Freestyle Music Park, formerly called Hard Rock Park, will open its doors at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 23, for its second season, according to a count-down clock posted on the park's Web site.
A spokeswoman for the park did not immediately confirm the opening time, but said that information regarding the park's opening day events would be released later today. She also said an announcement regarding the former Led Zeppelin roller coaster would be released.
The park's new owner, FPI MB Entertainment, has said it planned for a Memorial Day weekend opening. The company bought the $400 million park out of bankruptcy for $25 million in February after the park's original owners had to close shop due to a lackluster first season.
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Freestyle Music Park sued by former Hard Rock Park owners
The original owners of the former Hard Rock Park, which filed for bankruptcy in September and is set to open under new ownership on Saturday as Freestyle Music Park, are suing the new owners for trademark infringement and unfair competition, according to court documents.
The original owners, led by Steven Goodwin, the park's former CEO, and Jon Binkowski, its former chief creative officer, are asking for an unspecified amount of monetary damages from a federal court in Delaware. They allege the park's new owner, FPI MB Entertainment, is using intellectual property that belongs to them.
Goodwin and Binkowski are asking a judge to stop FPI MBE from using its intellectual property at the park, and a hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow. It was not immediately clear how such a ruling would impact the park's planned reopening.
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Hard Rock Park founders say they're due a cut of the profits
Some original founders of Hard
Rock Park said Thursday they
still have intellectual property
rights over the park's overall
concept and want an annual
$500,000 licensing fee and
royalties from the park's new
owners, who bought the park
out of bankruptcy last month,
according to court documents.
FPI MB Entertainment, the
group that purchased the park
for $25 million, said the
compensation request not only
threatens the reopening of the
park, planned to be by
Memorial Day, but the
attraction's entire existence.
At issue is whether the rights
to the layout, design and theme
of some of the park's attractions
and the park itself were
transferred with the park's
assets to the new owners by the
federal bankruptcy court in
Delaware.
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Judge approves sale of Hard Rock Park for $25 million
Wilmington, Del. | A judge has approved the sale of Hard Rock Park to FPI MB Entertainment for $25 million. The sale is scheduled to close no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, but could happen as early as Wednesday.
Delaware bankruptcy court Judge Kevin Carey called the price adequate and the process rigorous. "Anyone who wanted the opportunity to bid had it," he said.
FPI wants to keep the Hard Rock brand but has agreed to destroy any Hard Rock-branded merchandise before the park opens if there is no agreement on extending the license agreement, lawyers for the companies said in court.
The judge overruled the objection of Coastal Entertainment, a company out of Finland that said it wanted to bid $25.5 million. Officials with legal and accounting firms involved in the case it would take at least 10 to 14 days for the company's funding to come through to the United States, and they could not confirm a claim by the company that it had wired in a down payment of $2.5 million.
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