Seminole Tribe tried to launch Internet gaming site in Costa Rica

Thursday, August 9, 2012  

The Seminole Tribe of Florida tried to start a gaming website based in Costa Rica, according to an administrative decision affecting three Internet domain names.

The domains -- seminolecasino.com, seminolegaming.com and casinoseminole.com -- are currently registered to another party. Documents filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center show that the tribe and m.m.commerce started discussions for a gaming site sometime in 1997.

The relationship quickly ended but m.m.commerce held onto the domain names. An administrative panel of the WIPO, however, refused to transfer them to the tribe, noting that "Seminole Casino" trademark wasn't registered until 2008, long after the domains were registered in 1997 and 1998.

“In sum, despite the Complainant’s assertions that SEMINOLE CASINO was a “famous” brand by 1997, the Panel finds that the record in these proceedings does not establish that SEMINOLE CASINO was a distinctive identifier in the marketplace at that time, or that the Complainant was engaged in plans or activities to make it one," the panel stated in its July 25 decision.

Get the Story:
Seminole Tribe of Florida Loses UDRP On SeminoleCasino.com & SeminoleGaming.com (The Domains 8/8)