SVENSKE SPEL LOSES IN EARLY LITIGATION AGAINST LADBROKES (Update)

30 May 2008

Infringement and unfair comparative advertising claims rejected by Market Court


The Swedish state monopoly Svenske Spel's opening gambit in its threatening legal action against Ladbrokes has failed, according to local media reports this week. Ladbrokes could still have to defend itself in further actions by the gambling monopoly, but for now it has won the first exchange.

The case erupted earlier this (May) month when Svenske Spel took exception to a snappy play on words in Ladbrokes advertising that promised Swedish gamblers “Swedish games with English odds” and “We give more back to the players” (see previous InfoPowa report). The Swedish company clearly saw nothing amusing about the ads, and threatened to sue Ladbrokes.

In earlier public exchanges, Ladbrokes made the point that Svenske Spel does not hold a monopoly on the Swedish language and, therefore, cannot own the phrase "Svenska Spel".

Ladbroke's Scandinavian CEO Lasse Dilschmann commented: "We are not only challenging Svenska Spel with this; we are challenging the politics of gaming in Sweden and informing Swedish consumers that there is an alternative around the corner, which is as secure and responsible as Svenska Spel."

He went on to claim that the monopoly had "insulted its consumers" with bad odds and an unfair monopoly.
Ladbrokes insisted that there had been no wrongdoing, and in a remarkably short time Svenske Spel fired its opening broadside by lodging a request for an injunction halting Ladbrokes with the Swedish Market Court (Marknadsdomstolen), claiming that the British company had infringed its trade mark and engaged in unfair comparative advertising.

The Marknadsdomstolen, which hears issues under the country's marketing and consumer laws, apparently rejected Svenske Spel's arguments, giving an interim ruling that it found no reason to stop the Ladbrokes campaign.

Ladbrokes lawyers have not been idle, either, launching two lawsuits which claim that Svenske Spel should be stopped from marketing itself as "a world leader in responsible gambling", and that it should no longer label the efforts of foreign bookies as "illegal".

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa