Svenska Spel May be Sued by Swedish Poker Association

Who owns the right to the 'Swedish Poker Championships' brand has been up for debate lately. The Swedish Poker Association hosted a championship in Estonia in March and Svenska Spel hosted a championship in June. Now both also will host championships in November. Even though the two groups have worked together in the past, the SPA is now stating that they have hosted Swedish Poker Championships for more than 30 years so the title should be theirs.

Jesper Kärrbrink the CEO of Svenska Spel was given a warning of trademark violation which stated: "It is very shocking that a governmental company with monopoly status does not respect the law of trademark" said Peder Månsson, chairman of the Swedish Poker Association, according to the Gaming Intelligence Group website. "Our Poker Association survives on our Swedish Poker Championships and we have nothing like the resources of Svenska Spel. For us the reason for Svenska Spel to behave in this way is clear, our known and established Poker Championships and poker in general are increasingly popular and therefore very interesting for Svenska Spel and its profits."

In response, a spokesperson for Svenska Spel stated: "As far as we are concerned, you are not able to protect a trademark as generic as Swedish Poker Championships, since it is too common a concept to protect. You could claim a trademark on a logo which comprised of Swedish Poker Championships but not the words," said Jacob Lagercrantz.

Svenska Spel does not claim to hold claim to the title of 'Swedish Poker Championship' and hopes to work with the SPA in the future. Lagercrantz thinks that the Swedish Poker Championships should be held in Swedish Krona where they hold their event instead of Tallin which is where the SPA holds their event. Many Swedish Poker Championships have been held in the past few years online and offline by different companies. Time will tell if the title situation will be worked out or will continue to be a problem.