Bodog Back In Court To Reverse Judgment On Domain Names - 11-28-07

November 28 - Online gambling giant Bodog is back in a Washington court to dispute the default judgment handed down by a Nevada court which resulted in the company losing its primary domain names.  Bodog is putting forward the argument that internet domain names can not be treated as property and therefore cannot be seized by any court.

The company's Lawyers say that there is no previous case law that permits Internet domain names to be seized under Washington law.

The Nevada court seized the Bodog.com and other domains following a patent infringement claim by a Las Vegas based company, First technology. Bodog has publicly accused First Technology of being a so called "patent troll". 

Bodog's defenses will centre around case law in Virginia which holds that domain names should not be subject to seizure. Bodog's legal representation is being headed by James Nguyen, a partner at internet legal specialists Foley & Lardner.

The defense will also argue that it is not possible for a third party to use the Bodog domain names without infringing on Bodog trademarks, which further questions how the domain names could be transferred. They argue that if the court did not have the power the seize trademarks, "it likewise should not have the power to seize or transfer domain names which contain those trademarks".

Bodog insists that the company named in the First Technology action, Bodog Entertainment Group SA, is a "defunct ex-supplier of data entry and domain management services".

This could be a ground breaking case in Internet law.

Please view our review of the Bodog Sportsbook. US players are welcome.

Send To A Friend

Add This Gambling Article To:
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb	OnlyWire
Redit	StumbleUpon	Technocrati