Golden Nugget sues website operator over alleged cybersquatting
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28 April 2011
5:04 p.m.
The Golden Nugget hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin are suing a European website operator over allegations of cybersquatting and trademark infringement.
Luca Mueller of Unterfoehring, Germany, is accused in a lawsuit filed Wednesday of running an Internet gambling site called www.golddennugget.com, which appears to be deliberately misspelled with an extra "d."
Mueller couldn’t be reached for comment on the complaint, which was filed in federal court in Las Vegas and asserts claims including cybersquatting (using a confusingly similar name), trademark infringement, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.
Mueller’s website name infringes on trademarks that the Golden Nugget casinos in Nevada have developed by spending millions of dollars for advertising and promotions, the lawsuit says.
"The Golden Nugget name and mark is among the recognized and respected names in the gaming industry," says the suit filed by attorneys with the Las Vegas office of the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP.
The suit seeks an order blocking further alleged trademark violations and that the website domain name at issue be transferred to GNLV Corp., owner of the two Golden Nuggets in Southern Nevada.
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I own websites. Someone (one of my competitors} made a domain name very similar to my site and had it forwarded to his main site.
Even though this guy was from Russia, I was able to intimidate him into giving me the domain name with a threat of going to ICANN and making a complaint. ICANN is the worldwide corporation that has jurisdiction over domain names and usage. I investigated going to a lawyer, but the cost would have been about $3500. As it turned out, as soon as I mentioned ICANN, the guy folded and turned over the domain name. A major coup on my part.
The Golden Nugget can do the same and they are in the right.
I also own many websites. I want to plan to buy some more thru register.com. I try to make sure it is available first before trying to make a purchase. If I choose a unique name I am told it is not available. I tried this with well over 30 names and i was told the same thing. This too much of a coincidence. Feel someone is flagging these names to resell at a higher price I am to find who is doing this and getting away with it. How can we stop this practice?