MGM Resorts Cracks Down on Trademarked Domain Names
December 5, 2011
Website domain names circuscircuspoker.com, luxorpoker.com, bellagioonlinepoker.com, ariapoker.com, mandalaybayonlinepoker.com, excaliburpoker.com, and mgmpoker.com were registered back in 2002 and 2005, but MGM Resorts International is now taking legal action to sue the two companies and four individuals for trademark infringement.
In efforts to avoid confusion in the future should online poker become regulated and legalized in the US, MGM is cleaning house ahead of time to eradicate these websites.
The lawsuit claims that MGM casino names used in the domain names are widely recognized due to the billions of dollars MGM has spent to promote and advertise their brands, and the defendants are attempting to benefit from MGM’s investment. According to the suit filed, the companies and individuals who registered these domain names had the intention of profiting off of the “substantial fame, goodwill and consumer recognition” of the land-based casinos owned by MGM.
The suit goes on to say, “The defendants have or have had a bad faith intent to profit from their registration of the domain names,” charging the defendants with “cybersquatting.” This term is defined as using other business’s trademarks in order to profit online.
“The defendants have done nothing more than tack on the descriptive terms ‘poker’ or ‘online poker’ to each of the MGM marks to form the domain names. Accordingly, there is no question that the domain names are confusingly similar to the MGM marks,” MGM Resorts’ Lewis and Roca LLP attorneys say. The legal document submitted to the judge requests an order to temporarily restrain the domain owners from using these names.
Named in the suit are Shahram Kolahzadeh, resident of Zimbabwe and owner of ariapoker.com; Evan Krentzman from Woodland Hills, California, bellagioonlinepoker.com; Roberto Ciamillo, Shelby Township, Michigan, circuscircuspoker.com; Adam Majewski, McKinney, Texas, excaliburpoker.com; PokerSons, London-based company, mgmpoker.com and luxorpoker.com; and RevNet, Hackensack, New Jersey, mandalaybayonlinepoker.com.
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