You may remember last year that the popular online poker site Bodog.com was forced to change its name after losing a patent battle in Nevada, where the judge seized Bodog's domain name. The whole thing was pretty questionable. First of all, the patent itself is incredibly broad and could be used against any number of online sites. Secondly, why would a judge order that a company's domain name be taken in a patent dispute? The domain itself has nothing to do with the infringement. Of course, the ruling itself was mostly based on it being a default judgment: no one from Bodog showed up, pointing out that the site was not based in the US at all. However, after losing, the folks at Bodog did file an appeal, arguing that it wasn't properly served and that it, as a Costa Rican company, is outside the jurisdiction of a Nevada court. The appeals court apparently disagrees and has affirmed the lower court's decision without issuing any opinion. The ruling still makes very little sense, but that's what happens when you don't show up in court when sued, unfortunately. Permalink | Comments | Email This Story ...
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