Ladbrokes ad campaign infringed on Danske Spil trademark
Both parties also found to have violated Danish Marketing Act over campaigns launched in 2008.
The Danish High Court has ruled that a 2008 advertising campaign from Ladbrokes breached the country’s Marketing Act and infringed on the trademark of monopoly operator Danske Spil.
The campaign used the slogan “Danske spil Engelske Odds”, which translates as “Danish games English odds”, and was accompanied at the time by a release from the bookmaker claiming that players placing bets with Danske Spil were being overcharged.
Ladbrokes was found guilty of the two offences, while a marketing campaign at the same time from Danske Spil, the material of which has since been changed, was also found to be in breach of the Marketing Act.
Neither operator has been required to pay any remuneration as a consequence of the ruling, with neither deemed to have suffered a greater material loss than the other.
Danske Spil CEO Hans Christian Madsen said: “We are very pleased with the ruling. We welcome the liberalized gaming market welcome, but it is important to us that our new competitors follow the legal rules.”
A spokesman for Ladbrokes told eGaming Review that: “It is an old campaign which we had no plans to re-use, so in that sense the ruling has more impact for Danske Spil than for us.
“This has generated a lot of publicity for the campaign and Ladbrokes continues to have a strong brand in Denmark, but this is a historic case which has no bearing on our activities in Denmark now that the market is regulated and we have a licence there.”