Two Plus Two Publishing LLC has been in a legal tussle with poker player Russell “Dutch” Boyd since 2009. The company filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Boyd for cyber-squatting on the TwoPlusTwoPoker.com which Boyd purchased back in 2004.
Boyd purchased a number of domains during the following years that were closely related to the TwoPlusTwoPoker.com domain as part of his speculation process. Two Plus Two were unhappy with Boyd’s purchases as it considered it to be a trademark infringement and were concerned that Boyd would benefit financially from the use of this domain or even tarnish the image of the company if he acted in bad faith.
Based on the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), the registrant of a domain name is not allowed to register a URL that is similar or identical to an existing URL. The registrant is not allowed to use this domain in bad faith or for profit. Two Plus Two Publishing has taken Boyd to court on numerous occasions and has won repeatedly. This latest victory could possibly end this long standing dispute as the March 2012 judgment against Boyd was upheld by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The initial lawsuit against Boyd was filed by Greenberg Traurig, a law firm that represented Two Plus Two. Boyd then agreed to transfer the domain name to Greenberg Traurig but Two Plus Two were not satisfied with the result saying that they wanted Boyd to give them more than just the domain name.
Mason Malmuth, the owner of Two Plus Two stated on the Two Plus Two forum that they were not going to keep silent about the blatant infringement caused by Boyd. Malmuth said that Boyd owned the domain for a lengthy period of time and wanted statistics of how much revenue the domain name and website received during this tenure along with the traffic stats. Malmuth also stated that in the past they had tried to settle out of court with Boyd and solve the dispute but Boyd wanted no part of it.
The verdict upheld means that Boyd will have to follow what U.S. District Court Judge Kent Dawson stipulated in March 2012. Boyd is charged with acting in bad faith when he registered the TwoPlusTwoPoker.com domain and has been asked to pay Two Plus Two statutory damages for $25,000 along with attorney fees for $33,985.
