William Hill Loses Appeal against 32Red

William Hill suffered a legal blow last week when it lost its appeal in the High Court of Appeals in the UK in its branding and trademark dispute with 32 Red Casino.

The original court case was brought up against William Hill by 32Red over an online casino brand called 32Vegas which was operated by a company that was purchased by William Hill. The people over at 32Red Casino accused the 32Vegas Casino operator of infringing on the trademark rights it has on the number “32” and the brand “32Red”.

The court ruled in favor of 32Red Casino in January 2011 and stated that 32Vegas Casino used the established “32” to promote brands that had nothing to do with 32Red Casino and also misused the brand name when running ‘ad-words’ advertising campaigns with Google.

The High Court ordered William Hill to pay 70,000 GBP to 32Red Casino within two weeks. This charge is only for costs related to the appeal. The full damages that William Hill will need to pay to 32Red for the trademark infringement is yet to be decided but now that William Hill has completed the appeal process, the parties would reconvene in court so that the full amount of damages and compensation can be awarded.

Ed Ware, CEO of 32Red said: “Quite correctly, the Court of Appeal’s judgment supported the view that taking advantage of a well-known brand such as 32Red is not acceptable.” While a spokesperson for William Hill states that the company is disappointed with the judgment since the 32Vegas brand was scrapped back in 2009.