Bet365 has scored a partial victory in a long-running legal saga in the European courts, it was announced this week.
The firm applied to the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) a full decade ago, in 2007, for a trademark for “BET 365” to be applicable across seven different classes. These included computer software & gambling services, gaming apparatus, advertising & business management, financial services related to betting, allowing access to user network systems for betting information and services, provision of gaming services through electronic sites and computer advisory and consultancy services (Note that these descriptions are not exhaustive of the classes!)
Initially, the matter looked set to proceed quickly, but an opposition was launched in 2008 on the basis that the trademark was merely descriptive and not distinctive as a brand. The German citizen who brought the opposition, Robert Hansen, based his argument on the commonality of the word bet and the number 365 as it related to the days of the year.
In 2016 the Fifth Board of Appeal sided with Hansen. But in a final review, the EU general Court (EGC) have determined that the trademark should be permitted in the class 41 of betting and gambling services, but has dismissed Bet365’s other actions seeking trademarks across the remaining six classes.
This was a long-fought victory for Bet365, if only a partial one to this point, one which nevertheless paves the way for branding certain gambling offerings across Europe, while also offering them some protection for their brand name and corporate identity across the EU.
