A planned rebranding by Crownbet in Australia will likely end up in court as Paddy Power Betfair charges the name change will confuse the company with its Sportsbet brand.
Crownbet has filed with Australian regulators to rebrand to Sportingbet Pty Ltd after Crown Resorts sold its stake in the company to The Stars Group.
Sportsbet, which is the Australian arm of Paddy Power Betfair, has filed a lawsuit charging that the change would “mislead or deceive” gamblers and infringe on its trademark.
“Sportsbet is taking court action to protect the Sportsbet brand, and Australian consumers, from being misled in the market between Sportsbet and a Sportingbet brand,” a spokesman for Sportsbet told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The lawsuit accuses CrownBet of having “flagrant disregard” for Sportsbet’s rights as the owner of the Sportsbet trademark and claims CrownBet’s rebrand would mislead members of the public into believing its services have been sponsored by or have a connection with Sportsbet, the Herald reported.
CrownBet recently beat Sportsbet in taking over the Australian assets and customer base of bookmaker William Hill Australia after its British parent company put the business up for sale. The $300 million acquisition was expected to double CrownBet’s market share and cement its spot as the third-largest provider in Australia’s online sports-betting market, behind Sportsbet and Tabcorp, the Herald report said.
CrownBet declined to comment on the lawsuit, but has reportedly said in correspondence with Sportsbet’s lawyers that it will not withdraw its trademark application.
