I remember the first time I heard about 32Vegas Casino, I did a double-take, and for a moment, thought it was another online casino of a similar name -
32Red Casino. Only after visiting the website of 32Vegas firsthand was I able to determine that it was not the same website that I was more familiar with – 32Red. Granted, it’s my job to write about the online gambling industry, which you would think to give me a little more insight about all the different online casinos of a different name – and yes, those of similar names.
Newbie online gamblers, on the other hand, are much more likely to confuse 32Red with 32Vegas. While there is no direct harm in there being two similarly named online casinos from the perspective of a player (aside from one of the casino’s being far inferior than the other), from the perspective of a casino operator, this could represent a couple of things: 1) trademark infringement, and 2) lost business; the latter as a direct result of the former.
Me personally, I certainly can see how a newbie online gambler who happened to hear about 32Red Casino – whether from an advertisement or word of mouth – and then later, only remembering the “32″ part of the name, would be inclined to do a search and be satisfied with finding 32Vegas as the targeted website. Let’s face it – both sites have a sharp look, are properly licensed and regulated and do a lot of business in Europe – most notably in the UK. However, in terms of customer service track records and overall popularity, 32Red Casino was the sure winner.
And just this week, 32Red also became the winner of a High Court ruling in Britain, stating that 32Vegas violated 32Red’s trademark. Despite a counter-claim that 32Red’s trademark was not valid within the European community, the court held up 32Red’s claim, and has been requested to issue an injunction to stop the use of 32Vegas logo’s in EU countries, as well as assess legal repayment fees and financial damages caused by the use of the 32Vegas logo.
In other words, William Hill (the owner of 32Vegas) could soon be paying up big money to 32Red, which continues to be one of the most popular online casinos in the UK internet betting scene. Read the OCS 32Red Casino Review for more information. As for 32Vegas, you won’t find a review of them at OCS. Heck, you won’t even find their website online anymore. Probably seeing this day coming, 32Vegas changed their name to 21Nova Casino. A different number AND name altogether.
This reminds me of Facebook suing Teachbook, though I guess there is more merit to 32Red’s lawsuit, since they’re both targeting the same audience.
Teachbook, really? That’s almost better than The Facebook. I suppose Zuckerberg needed to make up for all that he was sued for…:) I’m glad 32Red won. 32Vegas had some serious issues. In fairness to Will Hill, 32Vegas was launched by Playtech and Will Hill took ownership of the site as part of its buyout of Playtech “affiliate” resources and a percentage of Playtech itself.