Bodog Loses Domain Name in Patent Suit: Poker Now on NewBodog.com

Bodog owner Calvin Ayre was forced to launch a new gambling and poker web site Tuesday evening, due to a legal order in a patent infringement dispute with 1st Technology LLC of Las Vegas Nevada, causing the loss of most of his Bodog.com domain names; so to play online poker at Bodog you will now need to go to www.newbodog.com.

Last September, 1st Technology sued Antigua-based Bodog Entertainment Group SA before Judge Roger L. Hunt in a federal court in Nevada USA, alleging the online gaming company was illegally using a "method and system for interactively transmitting multimedia information over a network which requires a reduced bandwidth," according to court documents.

1st Technology LLC is described (in a press release with Chartwell Technology) as a leading technology licensing company with a patent portfolio of advanced Internet and multimedia innovations, including patents to deliver high quality multimedia for online gaming products. The company is headed by Internet pioneer Dr. Scott Lewis, and includes licensees Paradise Poker, Chartwell Technology, Playtech Ltd., Sportingbet, and Excapsa Software.

When Bodog failed to appear in court to defend itself, it lost the case by default. Presiding Judge Roger L. Hunt ordered Bodog to pay $48,937,456 by March 2007 to 1st Technology for patent infringement.

When the March due date passed, the case became an enforcement issue and was moved druing June to the state of Washington, according to 1st Technology's attorney Venkat Balasubramani.

Bodog also failed to appear there.

Balasubramani insists that Bodog has been provided notices at various stages of both the lawsuit and the enforcement action. "It's safe to assume they knew about it and definitely ignored it," he added.

At the enforcement proceedings, 1st Technology noted Bodog had failed to respond to the default judgment and asked that all Bodog domains be confiscated and transferred to them. On Aug. 21, Judge John Erlick ordered all registrars to transfer Bodog related domains to the control of 1st Technology.

"The Court makes it clear that the intent of this Order is to allow the Plaintiff to liquidate or otherwise monetize the Domain Names without incurring any expense," said Erlick in the ruling.

"Plaintiff may decide not to auction the domain names, and instead may operate the Domain Names in any manner it sees fit, including exploiting any traffic to the sites accessible via the domain names," he added.

Balasubramani, who specializes in commercial litigation that involves the Internet and technology, said that the purpose behind the order was to satisfy the apparently ignored 1st Technology judgment.

1st Technology is serious about following through with the judgment against Bodog, as it has with other companies in the past.

"1st Tech has a large multi-firm team dedicated to enforcing the judgment relative to Bodog, enforcing its rights in its intellectual property and protecting its intellectual property rights relative to others active in the U.S. market, and demonstrating that no company that has customers in the United States is above or beyond U.S. legal jurisdiction," said a company spokesman.

Bodog does not appear to be ignoring this any longer. "1st Technology is in contact with Bodog's lawyers," the spokesman added.

Tuesday evening, Bodog launched www.newbodog.com and stressed that the new site offers "the same Web site, same brand, same product, and same service. Just a new domain name."

Ayre posted on newbodog.com that his company was involved in a legal dispute that included the rights to the Bodog.com domain names.

"This is the result of a legal dispute over the ownership of the Bodog.com domain name," Ayre said. "We are fighting this dispute. We are confident that we will win, but until all is settled, I do not want our battle to interrupt your play."

He continued saying, "We are working to resolve any remaining issues on the temporary site as soon as possible, and fully expect to have our original site back up shortly."

"I sincerely apologize if you were affected by our interruption and assure you that I will update you soon," Ayre said in closing in his post.

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