IP can give your site USP
Intellectual property rights can secure your foothold in an increasingly competitive space, says Nick Wallin of patent and trademark attorneys Withers & Rogers.
With so many online gaming and financial spread betting sites out there now, users are looking for more than just attractive odds and tighter spreads. Sites also need to be user-friendly and well-designed.
It is in this area – the technology that supports the site and the site’s design “ that intellectual property (IP) rights can be used to help businesses to secure their position in this increasingly competitive space.
Most online gaming and spread betting companies will be familiar with the use of trade mark registrations that are typically used to protect the main trading names of the company and the names of specific games and promotions.
However, trademarks held by gaming sector companies without an online presence have been known to pose problems too. In the case of WMS v PartyGaming, the gaming machine maker, WMS, brought an action against PartyGaming for alleged use of the names ‘Jackpot Party’ and ‘Super Jackpot Party’, which the former had registered as trade marks in 1997.
Without effective trademark monitoring and search services spanning the on and offline gaming industries, this type of potential infringement remains a risk.
Design registrations may also be useful in protecting the design of user interface (UI) elements and the visual design of the game itself. Design rights can be obtained quite quickly, often within a week if filed online, and once in place they are hard to challenge and easier to enforce because the IP owner doesn’t have to prove that the design has been copied in order to claim an infringement.
By far the most powerful form of IP right, however, is the patent, which is used to protect technological innovations in areas like user interface systems, such as search facilities, or in the creation of gaming networks. This type of technology can make the site easier to use and improve the reliability and accuracy of data provided. For this reason, developments in this area are gaining recognition as market differentiators, capable of driving user numbers.
Thus IP knowledge and foresight could make the difference between egaming and spread betting sites’ success and failure in this increasingly competitive market.