Harrah's Entertainment Suing Over Ownership of WSOP.com Domain

Harrah's Entertainment has filed a lawsuit in the Las Vegas US District Court against Binion Horseshoe Casino's former information technology director, Federico Schiavio over the possession of the domain name WSOP.com.

Schiavio purchased the domain name a long time ago, but Harrah's claims that the domain name should be owned by Harrah's since they bought Binion's with the purpose of profiting off of the World Series of Poker.

Harrah's claims it owns the trademark on the name "World Series of Poker," and that it has applied for a patent on the name "WSOP" as well, so Schiavio's Web site should be passed over to Harrah's.

Currently, going to the WSOP.com website will divert you to another poker website. Harrah's claims that Schiavio is profiting off of their brand, while at the same time associating the site with illegal internet gambling.

The results of this case could be a land mark in internet domain history. Typically this type of case would be won by Harrah's if they were fighting over the domain Harrahs.com or something directly stealing from their name brand. In this case however, the domain name is not related to Harrah's and Harrah's does not 'own' the World Series of Poker.

September 20, 2006
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!