Online Gambling Patent Matter Could Get Ugly

A complaint filed in a Missouri Supreme Court against seven online-gaming companies alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,564,001, titled “Method and System for Interactively Transmitting Information Over A Network Which Requires Reduced Bandwidth” could result in default judgments and potential confiscation of domain names.

Those named in the suit include: Digital Gaming Solutions SA, Costa Rica International Sports, Action Poker Gaming Enterprises and SBG Global; two Norwegian companies: Playsafe Holding AS and eCom Enterprises; and Digital Gaming Network, Ltd., which is based in Curacao.

The complainant - 1st Technology - is the same group that successfully managed to have all Bodog related URLS cut from the Web last year including the coveted Bodog.com.  That firm has refused to negotiate with 1st Technology.

Not surprisingly, Bodog was among the first to comment on the matter after it was published exclusively on Gambling911.com this past Monday.

"You should look into these cats a bit more or just sit back and watch how they torture everyone to shake a nickel out of them," said one company official who asked not to be named.

Bodog's legal counsel promised Gambling911 a copy of the petition for reexamination, which they claim will allow anyone sued under the aforementioned patent to stay the process by getting a copy of the petition for reexamination, as filed, from their lawyers and "kill this action for a couple of years".

BetCRIS, named in the complaint as Costa Rica International Sports, was unaware of the action.  They have informed Gambling911 of a meeting with their legal counsel regarding the matter next week.  Scott Lewis, proprietor of 1st Technology, has also indicated to Gambling911 on Wednesday that his preference would be to have some type of "reduced settlement" against BetCRIS.

"We do believe in differentiating between "good" and "bad" guys," Lewis stated, referring to BetCRIS's superior reputation within the online gambling sector. 

The risk to a publicly traded company like PlaySafe could be far more substantial especially when it comes to shareholders and potential acquisition properties.

Playsafe Holding AS is a Norway-based investment company that focuses primarily on the global online gambling market. It specializes in the acquisition of small and medium sized gaming operators and the consolidation of these into Playsafe's operating structure.

Like BetCRIS, Playsafe also operates out of Costa Rica as Action Poker.

Las Vegas From Home Entertainment, Inc. sold its Action Poker Network (APN) to Playsafe Holdings Ltd. in 2006. 

Ironically, Las Vegas From Home expanded into the online bingo market utilizing bingo software provided by Parlay Entertainment.  Parlay claims to own a patent for Internet bingo.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published May 8, 2008 10:10 am EST

 

 

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