EU trademark office rejects Entain’s complaint against Sportbet in Italy
The UK gambling giant attempted to block the rival over its name.
Italy.- London-listed Entain has lost its attempt to block the Italian entry of gambling brand Sportbet. In a complaint to the European Union’s trademark body, the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the company had argued that the new competitor’s name was too similar to that of its own Sportingbet brand.
EUIPO has rejected the request to block the registration of Sportbet’s logo and brand and has ordered Entain to pay Sportbet €300 in legal fees. The body appears to have been unimpressed by the originality of Entain’s branding, finding that there were no grounds to consider Sportingbet to be a particularly unique brand. It noted that ‘sporting’ and ‘bet’ are generic English words that merely describe the brand’s product.
“The mark consists of common English words which are easily understood by the English-speaking customer alone, as well as in the overall combination. Sportingbet will be perceived by the relevant public as a common description of the kind and intended purpose the goods and services relate to, namely betting on sporting events.”
It added: “The office agrees that a minimum degree of distinctiveness is sufficient to render a mark registrable. However, in this case, the Office finds the mark devoid of any distinctive character.”
The ADM’s figures show that gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Italy came in at €21.6bn in 2024, a rise of 4.4 per cent year-on-year increase. Growth was driven by a 17 per cent rise in online gaming revenue to €5bn. Meanwhile, land-based gambling revenue held steady with just a small rise to €16.5bn. As for stakes, players bet €157.5bn over the 12 months: €92bn online and €65bn via land-based gambling.
The application window for new Italian online gambling licences, covering betting, online casino, poker and bingo, closed on May 30. The Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) previously said it expected around 50 operators to apply, generating revenue of €350m from licence fees and €100m a year from concession fees. The regulator also recently confirmed Lottoitalia, a consortium comprising IGT, Allwyn, Novomatic and the Tobacco Retailers Federation as the winner of the main Italian lottery licence for the next nine years.
Meanwhile, it appears that plans to reform land-based gambling in Italy will face a new eight-month delay. The Reorganisation Decree was due to be fully implemented by December, but the government reportedly intends to accept a proposal to put the timeline back to August 2026.
Mariangela Matera, a Fratelli d’Italia MP for Puglia, had suggested that the Ministry of Finance (MEF), extend the adjustment period to 36 months to give regional governments more time to adapt regulations and finalise budget allocations while also allowing the government to update the framework of sanctions for regulatory breaches.
