Entain's subsidiary Sportingbet has filed a lawsuit in the Civil Court of Malta, demanding that Bulgarian online gambling operator Sportingwin cease operations under its current domain name, as the company believes the two are too similar.
According to court documents, Entain claims that Sportingwin's brand is too similar to Sportingbet, thus infringing on its 2017 trademark.
Sportingwin's trademark was approved at the inception of this Bulgarian operator in 2020. CEO Miroslav Rashev told iGB that the two brands had previously operated relatively harmoniously in different markets.
Side-by-side brand comparison:
Entain states that under its 2017 EU trademark, it has the right to prohibit third parties from using similar terms in commercial use that are likely to cause player confusion.
The document states that the company does not want its reputation to be "obscured and damaged" due to conflicts and non-compliant brands.
Sportingwin is confident in reaching an out-of-court settlement
The court initially approved Entain's request to temporarily stop Sportingwin's use of its domain name. However, when Sportingwin submitted a response, this suspension was revoked.
In its own documents, Sportingwin requests compensation for these temporary measures and points out that the decree has no legal basis.
The case is set to be heard in court in October, and CEO Rashev believes it can be settled out of court.
Reporters contacted Entain for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Entain's previous challenge was dismissed by a Czech court
This is not the first dispute between the two operators, as Entain filed a similar case in February 2023 with the Czech Arbitration Court Internet Dispute Resolution Center.
Entain objected to the Sportingwin.com and Sportingwin.net domain names, noting that the brand "is visually identical to the Sportingbet brand and trademark."
The court ultimately dismissed Entain's claims and allowed the Sportingwin domain names to continue to be owned by the operator.
