New WagerWire Feature for Buying, Selling of Daily Fantasy Pick’em Entries 'Complete Ripoff of My Patent'

Dominic LaRocca, a long time advisor in the gambling sector, tells Gambling911.com WagerWire is infringing on his patent.  And on Monday, WagerWire dug in further with the release of a feature that allows for the buying and selling of daily fantasy pick’em entries.  LaRocca says that is a "complete ripoff of my patent". 

WagerWire is one of dozens of startups looking to capitalize on the US regulated sports betting industry that opened up in May of 2018 after the Supreme Court tossed out decades of prohibition known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).  Like with most startups, WagerWire has relied on rounds of funding, most notably from Miami Marlins co-owner Roger Ehrenberg.  It claims to have raised a $3 million seed funding round led by Ehrenberg two years ago.

WagerWire encourages its users to "jump in-and-out of futures all season, cash in your fantasy pickems before they bust, and trade brackets deep into the tourney" as well as "capture value by buying low, or sell your action for a profit even if that team or player goes on to lose".

According to the lawsuit, the Get Out Ahead, LLC inventions as claimed further overcome the deficiencies existing in the art as of the date of invention by providing a means by which gambling platform providers could “obtain additional revenue from wagers already placed by collecting a commission on exchanged tickets.” See id. at 4:23-32. Still further, the inventions as claimed promote higher revenues for platform operators because, as explained by the patentees: “If users are able to liquidate part of their initial investments, users may reinvest their liquidated funds into additional wagers, resulting in more income for the wagering service.”

"If you are a an online casino operator, online sportsbook operator, fantasy sports operator, marketplace, exchange wager platform, etc. and you are offering the exchange of multiple iterations of the same online wager transaction?  YOU ARE INFRINGING OUR PATENTS !!!," Get Out Ahead LLC warns.

“This is a paradigm shifting moment for fantasy,” said WagerWire co-founder and CEO Zach Doctor. “This launch represents a way to bring more ownership and control over their entries. For the first time, there is a way to cash in on your lineups even if they go on to lose by selling it to a friend or on the open market. The excitement is palpable.”

The ability to buy and sell DFS pick’em entries is the result of a partnership between WagerWire and RealTime Fantasy Sports.

WagerWire has launched the feature on iOS and Google Play marking the first time DFS players can buy and sell entries through an app.

WagerWire has not responded to Gambling911.com's request for comment on the lawsuit.