Golden Casino associates accused of cybersquatting

Some folks just never seem to learn; the land gambling giant MGM Mirage is currently pursuing its second cybersquatting action against a Panamanian resident named Susana Gonzales and a company with the apparent misnomer of Smart Answer SA (see Station Casinos, Inc. v. Smart Answer, S.A. et al., Case 09-cv-00692S (D. Nev.) and Court Case Number: 2:09-cv-00692-PMP-RJJ.

The case has achieved wide publicity in the Las Vegas Sun and other newspapers, and on blogs like the Las Vegas Trademark Attorney, and follows two other complaints of cybersquatting brought against Smart Answer by Las Vegas casinos.

The first was MGM Mirage Operations, Inc. v. Gonzales et al, Case No. 08-cv-01543 (D. Nev. Filed November 7, 2008), reports the LVTA blog. This lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed on March 24, 2009.

The second was Bellagio LLC et al v. Smart Answer S.A. et al, Case No. 08-cv-01569 (D. Nev. Filed November 13, 2008). This second action resulted in a default judgment of $2.2 million for the infringement of the trademarks owned by Bellagio, Circus Circus, Mandalay Bay, New York-New York and Treasure Island, but collection was not pursued, with the casino giant apparently content with confiscation of the contentious domains.

In the third case, filed April 17 2009, MGM Mirage has again lodged a complaint regarding Smart Answer and Gonzales, this time claiming abuse of the Station trademark, specifically in domains like Palace Station, Boulder Station and Sunset Station.

MGM subsidiary Stations Casinos says the contested sites all link to online gambling site Golden Casino, widely believed to be the vehicle used by Golden Palace for its US operations.

MGM hopes to get an early ruling from Magistrate Judge Robert J. Johnston, who will be hearing the case.

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