Entain has asked the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to review its registration process to prevent illegal gambling firms from securing UK trademarks.
Group general counsel and chief customer officer Simon Zinger wrote to IPO CEO Adam Williams in May to lay out his concerns.
While stressing there was no criticism of the IPO, Zinger pointed out that firms without a Gambling Commission (GC) licence can apply for trademarks.
The Ladbrokes and Coral parent company said that via an internal review, it found 14 out of 18 unlicensed firms targeting UK customers held UK trademarks.
In the letter, Zinger pointed to Section 3(3)(a) of the UK Trade Marks Act, which allows the IPO to refuse an application should it be deemed contrary to public policy.
Entain’s group general counsel argued there should be automatic grounds for refusal of gambling-related trademarks for applicants that do not hold a licence to operate in the UK. Entain has also engaged the GC on the matter.
Zinger said: “All of the work, effort, compliance measures, licensing, oversight and training that goes into having a safe and sustainable system in the UK is just completely eroded with these bad actors who don’t comply with the regulation but are actually rewarded by the same government with a trademark right.
“This is one way to dismantle elements of operation or at least take away some of their credibility.”
Zinger’s letter comes as Entain continues to lobby authorities on the issue of the black market.
In May, CEO Stella David wrote to the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to call on the body to stop clubs from accepting sponsorships from unlicensed firms.
David asked the body if it considered unlicensed gambling operators to be entities “connected to serious criminal conduct”.
The IFR will introduce licensing which will ban clubs from accepting income from such groups.
An IPO spokesperson said: “The Trade Marks Act 1994 sets out the grounds on which the IPO can raise objections, and it is important to be clear about what those grounds do and do not cover.
“The provisions of the Act allow for objections to be raised where registration of a mark is prohibited by any enactment or law, and can only be used as the basis for an objection where there is an issue within the mark itself.
“There is no list of words or terms requiring prior approval for use in a registered trademark in the UK.
“This means that whether an applicant holds a Gambling Commission licence is not in itself grounds for us to refuse a trademark application. Licensing is a matter for the Gambling Commission.”
The post Entain calls on Intellectual Property Office to stop illegal firms registering trademarks first appeared on EGR Intel.
Ladbrokes parent asks body to review applications for trademark rights from unlicensed firms in latest push in fight against the black market
The post Entain calls on Intellectual Property Office to stop illegal firms registering trademarks first appeared on EGR Intel.