Bodog Poker in License Deal with Morris Mohawk -- Is it Baiting the Patent Trolls?

Bodog Entertainment, the international entertainment powerhouse founded by flamboyant Canadian Billionaire Calvin Ayre, has thrown down the gauntlet in its domain name dispute with 1st Technology by announcing a brand licensing agreement, including the use of all Bodog domains and the Bodog trademark, with Morris Mohawk Gaming Group for operations and marketing of gaming in North America.

The deal appears to be in direct response to the recent court award of Bodog domain names to 1st Technology as part of the settlement in a patent dispute claiming the downloadable gambling software used by Bodog violates patents held by 1st Technology.

After Bodog did not respond to the suit filed by 1st Technology in a Nevada court, a default judgement was issued against Bodog ordering the registrar of the company's domain names to remove all name servers associated with Bodog and Calvin Ayre, rendering the domains unusable. In addition, Bodog was ordered to pay $49 million in damages (click here for related article).

ENTER THE PATENT TROLLS

Shortly thereafter, Calvin Ayre launched a satirical blog September 7th describing the man and company he believes have stolen his Bodog domain names, Dr. Scott W. Lewis and 1st Technology, as 'Patent Trolls', complete with a cartoon of a troll with the heading "The North American Patent Troll: Also known as a bottom feeder. You can usually find this creature sucking the bone marrow out of young children."

The term 'Patent Troll' is defined by Wikipedia as "a pejorative term used for a person or company that enforces its patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic."

After extolling how the Mohawks aren't exactly known for backing down from a fight, and how the name "Mohawk" means "eaters of flesh" or "man-eaters", Ayre continues in his blog saying, "It should be very interesting, then, to see what kind of mince-meat they [Mohawks] make out of the Patent Trolls over at 1st Technology who are trying to bleed $50 million out of them ... all because of some lame patent that 1st Technology claims to have over their Bodog domains."

Click here to see Ayre's entire web blog.

WHY INVOLVE THE MOHAWKS?

Industry watchers are not quite sure how the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group fits into this picture, and why Calvin Ayre thinks the Mohawks can handle the domain name fight more effectively than his own company can.

Back in the press release, Ayre says, "We could not have found a more perfect partner than Alwyn Morris and Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. Morris is a true Canadian hero. We are confident that Morris Mohawk will be able to give our North American customers the quality experience they have come to expect from Bodog."

"Our deal with Bodog is another great addition to the business community that has developed in Kahnawake," adds Morris. "Working with the top brand in the industry will further solidify the extensive experience, knowledge base and importance of this vertical."

Morris Mohawk is headed by noted First Nations leader Alwyn Morris, who is revered for winning two medals in kayaking in the 1984 Olympics and raising the symbolic eagle feather to honor his ancestors during the medal ceremony. For his Olympic accomplishments and his work with youth in the Health and Welfare Canada Native Drug Abuse Programme, Morris was made a member of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor in 1985.

Since then, Morris has been involved in numerous sport, civic and business endeavors to forward the position of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. He is currently Director of the Council of Chiefs for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake located in Montreal's South Shore.

The Bodog - 1st Technology battle was unusual already. But Ayre's baiting blog with its strong language is another dimension all together, taunting 1st Technologies for a fight.

Meantime, Bodog relaunched their online poker and other gaming and entertainment on www.NewBodog.com, and according to Ayre, "other than the change in URL, it is business as usual."

Read Related Article: