Canadian in Gambling Domain Lawsuit
A Canadian resident has been accused of wrongly associating a top US casino brand with his newly launched domain name.
In a lawsuit filed by Boyd Gaming Corp in Las Vegas this week, the gaming company charged Erik Hall with associating their Blue Chip Casino brand with his website.
In 2006, it is claimed, Hall registered a domain name which infringed on the Blue Chip Casino trademarks.
Blue Chip Casino is famous in Michigan City as a top spa, casino and hotel and is operated by Boyd Gaming Corp.
The website launched by Hall, according to the lawsuit, infringed on the trademark name by affiliating Blue Chip Casino to the site.
The lawsuit also claims that Blue Chip Casino was also linked to the popular online poker room, Full Tilt Poker.
"Defendent's use of a domain name containing plaintiff's Blue Chip marks has created a likelihood of confusion among consumers who may falsely believe that the infringing domain name and Full Tilt Poker website are associated with the Blue Chip Casino or that plaintiff sponsors or approves of defendant's services or commercial activities," read the lawsuit.
Hall was approached for comment but could not be reached.
Boyd Gaming is accusing Hall of trademark infringement, deceptive trade practices, unfair competition and 'cybersquatting'.
The lawsuit was filed by the Las Vegas law office Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.
