MORRIS MOHAWK SETTLES INTERNET GAMBLING PATENTS DISPUTE WITH FIRST TECH

24 April 2009

Years of acrimony put to bed in settlement
 

Alwyn Morris, CEO of Morris Mohawk Gaming Group in Kahnawake, which licenses the Bodog brands in North America, has retrieved the still valuable domains lost to a default judgement obtained by First Technology LLC two years ago. The retrieval is part of the settlement of a technology patents disputes with Dr. Scott Lewis's First Technology LLC company, the financial details of which remain confidential by common consent of the parties.

The settlement of one of the most bitterly contested actions launched by First Tech so far ends a dispute which dates back to 2007, when Lewis obtained a default judgement for $48 million and the confiscation of Bodog's domains on grounds of alleged technology patent infringements.

In the months following the dispute bitter blog and media exchanges between then Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre and Lewis often appeared in industry publications. In an interview with Pointspreads.com this week, the now retired Ayre gave full credit for achieving a settlement to Morris.

"This settlement ends the series of 1st Technology's lawsuits addressing the alleged use of patents in the 1st Technology portfolio," a statement from MMGG said this week. "The settlement also resolves 1st Technology's judgment collection efforts."

"The agreement also covers core multimedia patents for advanced gaming products. The 1st Technology patents, developed by early multimedia pioneer Dr. Scott Lewis, CEO of 1st Technology, are targeted at providing enhanced interactivity and optimized delivery of high quality multimedia information over various bandwidth networks including narrowband and broadband telephone, cable, and wireless Internet.

“We are pleased to have worked constructively with 1st Technology and its principals to bring an end to this protracted dispute. This resolution will provide certainty and will also allow us to continue to enhance our technology base for online gaming in order to provide our users with unfettered access to the best technology.”

When asked by Pointspreads why Morris Mohawk had involved itself in the issue, CEO Alwyn Morris responded: "While the MMGG was not the judgment debtor, the defendant supplier hadn't been operational since 2007 and there was therefore simply no possibility of their satisfying the default judgment. We are the exclusive licensee of the ‘Bodog' brand within the region and so our business was impacted by anything that cast a shadow across the brand. We wanted to remove any residual uncertainty that this case had created, and we wanted to acquire the domains - it was a straightforward business decision."

Morris later said in a statement: “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to return the Bodog experience to its rightful home – the reaction of staff and key suppliers has been thunderous. We will be transitioning the MMGG site to this domain over the coming weeks. Moreover, we have only just this morning inked a deal with Bodog Antigua, from whom we license the Bodog brand. Under this contract, outside of our brand license territory, the www.bodog.com domain will be redirected to the other brand licensees’ sites, as appropriate. One domain, worldwide.”

Keith McDonnell, Managing Director of Bodog Europe noted “As the ‘Bodog’ brand licensee for Europe, we are ecstatic to see the return of Bodog.com. Working with the MMGG and the other licensees, geo-targeting will be used to ensure visitors outside of the MMGG’s territory are directed to the correct site, including ours (www.bodoglife.co.uk). This way, the marketing efforts of every licensee to promote Bodog.com benefit us all, ultimately reinforcing and strengthening the global brand. It will absolutely be a win-win-win solution.”    

Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa

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