TwoPlusTwo Wins Case against Dutch Boyd
03/05/2012 : TWOPLUSTWO POKER FORUM SEES OFF ANOTHER CYBER-STEALER
Owner's trademark case against poker pro upheld
Mason Malmuth, the owner of the popular twoplustwo poker forum and ancillary companies, has been successful in defending his domain in a long-running case against poker pro Dutch Boyd.
Malmuth originally took the case to court back in late 2009 when he claimed that Boyd had infringed his domain rights on twoplusttwo with his registration of the domain ‘twoplustwopoker' . Two Plus Two Publishing alleged that the domain was confusingly similar to its well known trademark Two Plus Two and the associated website twoplustwo.com.
On Saturday, Malmuth posted on his forum:
"As many of you know, Two Plus Two has been in ongoing litigation against professional poker player Dutch Boyd. Dutch had registered the domain name ‘twoplustwopoker.com' without our knowledge or permission.
"After several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with Dutch in good faith, we had no choice but to file suit against him. Even after the litigation was filed, we attempted to resolve and settle the case with Dutch amicably, but were again unsuccessful. We then filed a motion for summary judgment against Boyd for domain name infringement, which he opposed.
"Today, the United States District Court granted our motion for summary judgment, and awarded us damages and attorney’s fees against Boyd for his violation of the federal anti-cybersquatting act. While we don't enjoy litigation, we felt that we did what was necessary in this case to protect our intellectual property rights."
Subsequent media reports indicated that the court, presided over by U.S. District Judge Kent J. Johnson, awarded Malmuth's company $25,000 in statutory damages and $33,985.45 in attorney’s fees against Boyd. The domain twoplustwopoker.com was also ordered transferred to Malmuth's company.
This is not the first time that Malmuth has been required to defend his domain and trademark rights. Our readers will recall that late last year Two Plus Two Publishing obtained a judgment from the United States District Court, District of Nevada, for $150,000 in statutory damages against Anthony Scocozzo for the willful infringement of the twoplustwo trademark and copyrights. The judgment also included reimbursement of costs and attorney fees.
Scocozzo was a former member of the Two Plus Two forums, who registered a domain name containing the forum's trademark and offered several of Malmuth's copyrighted books for free download in the "e-book" format. After attempts to negotiate a settlement failed, Malmuth took the issue to the courts.
"Although we certainly don't enjoy litigation, we pursue lawsuits when we have to in order to protect ourselves from infringers," Malmuth said at the time.
