Party Gaming a No Show in US Court

While unrelated to their plight in the US since UIEGA, Party Gaming (who owns Party Poker) has taken the extreme measure of refusing to show up for a court battle against a US-based slot machine manufacturer. In the case of WMS Gaming vs. Party Gaming the plaintiff has alleged that Party Gaming infringed on their trademarks by using the words "Jackpot Party" and "Super Jackpot Party" on their online slots site.

The case has now been overturned by the United States Court of Appeals after a July verdict awarded WMS $2.67 million in damages. Here's where the case takes an interesting turn. WMS originally asked for $27 million in damages but because they couldn't prove exactly what Party Gaming had earned from that specific game, the original judge reduced it to the $2.67 million figure. So now Party is on the hook for 10 times the original amount awarded. Why?

Party never showed up for court. One may assume that they're afraid to send any rep over for the company to the US due to fears of being detained and arrested for their pre-UIEGA activity here. Regardless of their reasons, they have boycotted the entire court proceeding and since the burden falls on the defense to provide proof of their income in this case, the judgment has now defaulted to the original amount.

They are negotiating with the US DOJ to reach a settlement but it's tough to imagine that they will get much sympathy given the hard stance the DOJ has taken on "illegal" online gambling operators that have US poker sites.

Source: AintLuck.com