The "madness" of March has been exacerbated for a few sportsbook operators and their associates.
BBF International, SBG Global, Inovasis, Inc., Jeffrey Postal and Richard Mendelson have been slapped with trademark infringement suits by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for unauthorized use of NCAA trademarks, including the phrase "March Madness" on their sites or as part of a domain name.
"It's the time of year for misuse" of the NCAA trademarks, explained NCAA spokesperson Jane Jankowski, thanks to the popularity of the collegiate basketball championship. Jankowski felt that there was "no direct
relationship" for the NCAA targeting online gambling sites at the same time federal legislation has been proposed that would prevent gambling on college sporting events.
"We want to send a warning that we will pursue companies and individuals who inappropriately register and use domains associated with NCAA trademarks," added Else Cole, general counsel for the NCAA.
The NCAA contends that use of its marks on the sites may lead consumers to mistakenly believe that the sites are sponsored or approved by the association. One of the sites, says the NCAA, featured photographs of the student-players at NCAA institutions.
These are the first cybersquatting suits filed by the NCAA that requested injunctive relief.
"We weren't aware that 'NCAA' and 'March Madness' are trademarked," explained Eduardo Agami, CEO of SBG Global, a Costa Rican sportsbook. "We didn't mean to step on anyone's toes." After receiving notification that
his site was infringing the NCAA trademark, Agami said they "complied directly" and removed all offending terms.
On March 16, a federal judge in Virginia signed a temporary restraining order that froze the U.S. assets of BBF International, and ordered the company to shut down two gambling sites (www.ncaa-march-madness.com and
www.ncaabettinglines.com) that were using the NCAA trademarks without authorization.
Another hearing is scheduled Friday in Indiana to hear a request for a temporary restraining order on a similar lawsuit against the other defendants, who allegedly operated or hosted three sites:
www.wwwbetncaa.com, www.wwwmarchmadness.com and www.wwwncaa.com.