Posted: September
15, 2004 at 8:14am
The Oregon Lottery likes to tout how its revenues create jobs and boost
economic development. But one of its latest instant scratch-off ticket
games apparently has been helping generate a tidy sum of revenue - for
the owners of a 9-year-old, offshore-based online casino.
Call the
confusion over the name "Casino Fortune" unintended offshoring,
if you will.
And while
lottery officials say they don't see how anyone could confuse a scratch-ticket
game with Internet gambling, casino officials say their own statistics
show a 50 percent jump in Oregon visitors since the lottery started the
same-named game last spring.
The apparent
confusion prompted an announcement this week from the online casino (www.CasinoFortune.com),
which is based in Trinidad and has its servers in Antigua.
The lottery's
scratch ticket (www.oregonlottery.org/scratch/cfortune.shtml) game began
May 4, and has a top prize of $80,000. One can play high card, roulette,
slots or 7-11 on the $10 tickets.
The number
of Oregon participants in the Casino Fortune Website has grown from 8,550
before the scratch ticket game's release to almost 12,500 at present,
said the casinos' spokesperosn in New York. In fact, he said, more
than 2,700 Oregon clients responded to the registration question, "How
did you hear about us?" with the answer: "scratch ticket."
The estimated "windfall" from the mixup is approaching $950,000, the spokesperson said,
adding that the average new client spends $240 in first-month betting
expenses.
The scratch-off
tickets came from the Oregon Lottery's instant ticket vendor, Oberthur
Gaming Technologies of San Antonio, Texas. The firm has "more than
30 years of lottery-specific expertise and more than a century's experience
in the security printing industry," according to its Website (www.oberthurgt.com).
In fact,
the firm, which has worked with the Oregon Lottery since 1998, recently
signed a new one-year contract with the state, with the option to extend
for five more years. Currently, 22 states contract with OGT, according
to Jeffrey Shoumaker, an account manager.
Lottery calls
confusion 'unlikely'
Chuck Bauman,
Oregon Lottery spokesman, said Tuesday, "Their (OGT's) legal department
had done a trademark search prior to the production of the Casino Fortune
ticket and cleared it for use by the Oregon Lottery due to the fact that
the federal (trademark) is not in the same field of services as instant
tickets and services."
"Since
there is no tie-in between the instant game and the Internet, confusion
is not likely," Bauman said.
But the big
boost in the number of Oregon gamblers visiting the site speaks for itself,
according to the spokesperson.
"It's
obvious to us that Oregon is not exactly Las Vegas or Atlantic City,"
he said. "In our database, clients coming in from the state of Oregon
are pretty slim." The big increase, the sokesperson said, "coincided
with the issuance of the Casino Fortune scratch tickets."
The casino
spokesperson also didn't buy the argument that its trademark doesn't extend
to other gambling, such as the scratch-off tickets. "That would be
the equivalent of me starting a clothing line and using 'Pepsi-Cola,'
since Pepsi doesn't make clothing," the spokesperson said.
"I think
it's a matter of the principle," he said. "We're a very established
and well-respected Internet casino. Almost 2 million Americans gamble
with us. We're the largest casino, with regards to American clientele,
third-largest in the world."
Court action
over the trademark is possible, the spokesman said. "It depends on
whether it's worth it, what's the return on investment. Our CEO is pretty
upset. He's talking to our attorneys in New York."
"If
we don't take them to court, we might as well have a good laugh on it,"the spokesperson said. "You steal our trademark, and you end up sending us
business."
"It's
a state organization - they should be playing by the rules," he said.
Source: Bend.com
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