A trademark dispute has erupted between a sizeable Indian casino in Minnesota and a Las Vegas-based casino supplier.
A lawsuit filed Monday in Las Vegas shows attorneys for the Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel in Morton, Minn., have demanded that Las Vegas company Gaming Support USA Inc. stop calling its casino signage products “JackpotJunction.”
The Jackpot Junction casino in southwestern Minnesota, 110 miles from Minneapolis/St. Paul, says it has 1,250 slot machines and a 378-room hotel.
In Monday’s lawsuit filed by Gaming Support USA against Jackpot Junction casino owner the Lower Sioux Indian Community, Gaming Support seeks a court declaration that its “JackpotJunction” name does not infringe on the tribe’s trademark and that the tribe’s “Jackpot Junction” name is not famous and is entitled to only a narrow scope of trademark protection.
Gaming Support USA is a subsidiary of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, company Gaming Support B.V.
Gaming Support said in the federal lawsuit it provides casino signs and back-end operating systems to casinos and that its “JackpotJunction” product line is the gaming industry’s “most prolific gaming-enabled digital signage platform, with hundreds of installations worldwide.”
“JackpotJunction enables casino operators the world over to enliven their operations with high-speed multimedia broadcasts that grab attention, reinforce and clarify brands, cross-promote internal businesses and boost gaming revenue,” the suit says.
The lawsuit says that while the Minnesota tribe opened its casino in 1984 and registered its trademarks in 2001, “Gaming Support has continuously used the JackpotJunction mark for over five years without issue in commerce in connection with its goods and services.”
The Las Vegas company’s use of the “JackpotJunction” name for its products is “significantly different” than the tribe’s use of the Jackpot Junction name for its casino, the suit says.
“Consumers are not likely to be confused between the (Indian) community’s mark for a hotel and casino and Gaming Support’s mark for multimedia gaming systems,” the suit says.
Attorneys for the tribe have not yet answered the suit.