Venetian wins U.N. complaint against Internet operator

Monday, May 6, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

Venetian hotel-casino owner Las Vegas Sands Inc. said last week it won a trademark infringement complaint against Antigua-based World Wide Telesports and its manager George Samuels, an online gaming operator accused of using the Sands trademark to promote online gaming and sports betting.

The United Nation's World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO), in a decision issued May 1, ordered the defendants to transfer their domain names "carsands.com" and "thesands.com" to Las Vegas Sands because it found the name is "confusingly similar" to the Sands trademark and was "registered and used in bad faith."

Las Vegas Sands accused World Wide -- the owner of an Antigua-based online casino, Sands of the Carribean -- of using the domain names to "create an impression that it is an online casino operated or sponsored" by Las Vegas Sands in the Carribean. It also accused the defendants of ignoring cease and desist letters issued by Las Vegas Sands in November 2000 and March 2001.

World Wide argued the name isn't identical or confusingly similar to the Sands trademark because the Carribean is associated with beaches.

The Venetian won two similar trademark infringement complaints last year. It won a complaint in December against offshore online gaming operator Red Group of South Africa and against another online gaming operator, International Services, in October.

"Many times it's a challenge bringing foreign entities into U.S. courts," said Gary Hecker, Las Vegas Sands' attorney. "But WIPO is a good quasi-judicial mechanism for resolving domain name infringements because it has jurisdiction over domain names used throughout the world."

"Temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions are short legal remedies. It would take about one to two years to get a final remedy in federal court. But it would take less than a year to get a final remedy through WIPO," he said.