Shuffle Master sues app firm for trademark infringement
Lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and concerns Shuffle Master's Let It Ride and Three Card Poker games.
Land-based gaming supplier Shuffle Master has filed a lawsuit suing app developer Avalinx LLC, alleging trademark and copyright infringement.
The trademarks and copyrights referred to in the court papers, filed on Tuesday in the Las Vegas federal court, concern Shuffle Master’s Let It Ride and Three Card Poker table games.
The court papers state that Avalinx, based in Dublin, Ohio, sold mobile apps featuring the casino games Let ‘Em Ride Pro and 3 Card Pro. Shuffle Master says these infringe on its rights.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, the lawsuit accuses Avalinx of “usurping” Shuffle Master’s names and designs, as well as claiming it is likely the app developer copied its Let ‘Em Ride Pro image from one used on Let It Ride.
The suit states that “[The] defendant misappropriated plaintiff’s intellectual property for its own financial gain by misleading consumers into falsely believing that its mobile applications were sold by or licensed from [the] plaintiff,” adding that “[The] defendant subsequently removed the infringing applications from the iTunes application store, but only after [the] plaintiff demanded their removal.
“[The] defendant’s conduct was patently egregious and [the] plaintiff requests relief to compensate [the] plaintiff for damages caused by [the] defendant and to prevent [the] defendant from further misappropriating [the] plaintiff’s valuable intellectual property,” it continues. The damages sought are unspecified.
In an interview with eGaming Review North America last month Lou Castle, Shuffle Master’s chief strategy officer, highlighted the company’s emphasis on protecting its unique product offering.
“With almost 300 gaming licences around the world, it’s important that there are laws for us to protect our intellectual property on an online basis,” he said. You can read the full interview here.
Earlier this month, Shuffle Master and online poker network Ongame entered into a partnership with Bally and Aristocrat Technologies. The deal ensures that Ongame’s poker offering, which Shuffle Master agreed to acquire for 19.5m (US$25.7m) in March, is available through Bally’s online platform and to Aristocrat’s land-based casino customers as part of its suite of online games.