32Red has been awarded damages of £150k following its successful trade mark action against William Hill in the High Court.
The online casino operator originally won the case back in January 2011, after the judge ruled that William Hill’s use of the 32Vegas brand from 31 December 2008 until August 2009 infringed 32Red’s trademark rights in relation to the 32Red mark. William Hill lost an appeal against the ruling in January 2012.
The dispute between the operators began in late 2008, when 32Vegas.com became one of the assets transferred to William Hill by Playtech in return for a 29% stake in the William Hill Online JV. At this time, the previously Antiguan-owned and Kahnawake-licensed online casino, to which had 32Red had already sent a cease and desist letter in May 2006, was able to target 32Red’s home market of the UK using WHO’s Gibraltar licence.
William Hill Online subsequently refused to back down to a cease and desist letter in January 2009, with 32Red initiating legal proceedings in July 2009. William Hill Online denied 32Red’s claim it had a reputation in any of the marks and denied the infringement allegations. WHO ceased operating the 32Vegas.com website on 3 August 2009, rebranding it as 21Nova.com.
The court however ruled that 32Red’s rights had been breached with respect to the 32Red mark in January 2011, with the appeal court also ruling that the company’s rights in relation to the 32 mark had also been infringed.
32Red said it would update shareholders on the recovery of its “significant” legal costs following a hearing to be held in the coming weeks.
Article written by Katy Stirland
