Tokyo High Court dismisses Wynn defamation suit

Tokyo’s High Court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment against Wynn Resorts.

The High Court backed an earlier finding from a lower court that the case falls under “special circumstances,” given the large amount of evidence and relevant witnesses overseas. The court also took into account the fact that the group has a separate case against Wynn in the U.S.

Universal said the High Court’s decision was “extremely regrettable” and that the argument of “special circumstances” should only be used in extremely rare circumstances.

The company has now filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Universal and Okada also earlier this year filed a criminal complaint against Wynn and its CEO Stephen Wynn for defamation, damage to credit and the dissemination of unfounded rumours.

The long-running spat between the two companies dates back to 2012 and relates to alleged bribes paid by the Japanese company to officials in the Philippines, where the company has one of the licenses to run an integrated resort in Manila’s Entertainment City.

 

Latest Intelligence

Latest issue

PATA CEO sees slow recovery, but optimism for future

AGB Podcasts