Man sued over tribal name

Friday, Nov. 29, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. -- The Mashantucket Pequots are suing a Massachusetts man over an Internet website.

At issue is the site www.Foxwood.com, which the tribe says has no connection to its Foxwoods Resort Casino and is causing confusion. The tribe has a website at www.Foxwoods.com.

The tribe has filed a federal lawsuit against Raymond Redican Jr., a 26-year-old from Lowell, Mass., who the lawsuit said registered the domain names Foxwood.com and Foxwood.org in 1997 and later tried to sell them to the Mashantuckets.

The tribe claims that Redican is using the websites to attract people who misspell Foxwoods, then exposing the unwitting visitors to advertising about other casinos and misleading them to divulge personal information through a survey or a subscription offer.

"We have a well-known and highly distinctive trademark," casino spokesman Bruce MacDonald said. "We operate a website called Foxwoods.com. We feel we have to protect our domain name from ones that are confusingly similar."

The Mashantucket Pequots have at least eight registered trademarks protecting goods and services provided under the Foxwoods name and also own the Internet domain names Foxwoods.com, Foxwoodscasino.com, Pequotcasino.com and Mashantucket.org.

Redican said he is just a small businessman who develops community websites.