Shuffle
Master Files Lawsuit
Shuffle Master, Inc.
today announced that it has filed a new lawsuit
against Ya Ya Awada and Gaming Entertainment,
Inc.
The lawsuit alleges that Shuffle Master's
highly successful Four Card Poker game is being
infringed and illegally copied by the defendants'
Play Four Poker game. The lawsuit, filed yesterday
in the United States District Court for the
District of Nevada, claims that the defendants
are violating the federal Lanham Act by infringing
the trademark/trade dress of Shuffle Master's
Four Card Poker game, and further, that the
defendants are committing acts of unfair competition,
interference with prospective business advantage
and conversion. Shuffle Master's action seeks
appropriate injunctive relief against defendants'
Play Four Poker game, as well as unspecified
monetary damages.
Mark Yoseloff, Shuffle Master's Chairman of
the Board and Chief Executive Officer commented:
"By filing this lawsuit, Shuffle Master
is again protecting its intellectual property,
its most valuable asset. The defendants' Play
Four Poker game improperly and illegally infringes
Shuffle Master's intellectual property concerning
its very successful Four Card Poker game. We
believe that the defendants have illegally copied
Shuffle Master's Four Card Poker game in order
to try to create confusion and disruption in
the marketplace, and to try to pass off their
game as ours. We have sought prompt redress
in the courts in order to protect not only the
value of Four Card Poker, but the interests
of our customers related to the integrity of
our games which they place on the casino floors."
Shuffle Master, Inc. is a gaming supply company
specializing in providing its casino customers
Utility Products, including automatic card shufflers,
intelligent table systems, and roulette chip
sorters, to improve their profitability, productivity
and security, and Entertainment Products, including
proprietary table games and Table Master (TM)
games to expand their gaming entertainment content.
The Company is included in the S&P Smallcap
600 Index.
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