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U.S. Slot Company Sues PartyGaming (1 of 2)

The American online slot machine casino industry is just full of big David-and-Goliath lawsuits these days. Of course, it’s old news that the state of Kentucky is making a ridiculous attempt to confiscate one hundred forty-one internet gambling site domains as “illegal gambling devices,” but Governor Beshear isn’t the only one attempting a takedown of an entity much bigger than himself. An American slot machine manufacturer has been given the go-ahead to pursue massive restitutions from PartyGaming PLC, one of the largest online casino software providers in the whole world.

WMS Gaming has a beef with PartyGaming, claiming that the offshore company illegally used copyrighted game titles on its internet slot machine gambling titles. The Wilmington, Illinois-based group’s original suit against the international software giant for allegedly using the names “Jackpot Party” and “Super Jackpot Party” for two online slots illicitly led to them being awarded two-point-six million dollars. Now, WMS is seeking PartyGaming’s entire American profits for the three years prior to their suit, claiming that they are reasonable damages. A federal appeals court has cleared the way for them to make the demand. WMS claims that it has held the trademarks to those two names for over ten years.

WMS’s legal team, consisting of Atlanta lawyers Theodore H. Davis Jr. and Louise T. Rains of the Kilpatrick Stockton group, is seeking two hundred eighty-seven million dollars in forfeiture from PartyGaming for the online slot brouhaha.

WMS may have its eyes on some serious dough, but PartyGaming is certainly not taking them seriously. The company lost the WMS suit in default by not showing up, pooh-poohing that the United States court system had no jurisdiction over them.

Continue to part 2 here.

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