Snakeman busts Sportsbet taking a gamble with his registered trademarks.Media release dated 27 July 2018
SPORTSBET have been caught out doing what they recently got a lot of publicity for trying to prevent …. Registered trademarks infringement!
This month SPORTSBET stopped CROWNBET from rebranding to the name SPORTINGBET via a series of proceedings at IP Australia and the Australian Federal Court.
Now Sportsbet have found themselves back in the Federal Court fighting off a trademark infringement claim.
For some months and in breach of Snake Man Raymond Hoser’s long registered trademarks, Sportsbet have been running saturation advertising on Television and the Internet featuring a man they call SNAKE MAN in advertisements for their brand.
However the real Snakeman RAYMOND HOSER who happens to own numerous registered trademarks worldwide for the words SNAKEMAN and SNAKE MAN didn’t authorise the adverts.
Through his lawyers he asked SPORTSBET to stop running the trademark infringing adverts. However Sportsbet took a gamble and kept running the adverts in the expectation that Snakeman would not sue them.
Unfortunately for them, he did.
SNAKEMAN Raymond Hoser has filed a claim with the Federal Court of Australia seeking SPORTSBET cease and desist from their adverts using the registered trademark, noting the registered trademarks include for all things snake and all things TV and other media. Hoser is also seeking damages for those adverts already screened.
The advert featuring a snake charmer who is incompetent and loses a venomous snake has caused Hoser immense damage as it implies he is incompentant or in some way associated with an incompetent snake handler.
Snake handling is a heavily regulated business and to have a snake excape during a performance is a serious offence for which the punishment may include jail.
In 2011 the SNAKEMAN’s successful wildlife education business was shut down by government agents at gunpoint with the claim that there was a possibility that the Snakeman’s snakes may escape.
While Hoser eventually won the legal proceedings, they caused irreparable harm to Hoser’s business and reputation and he lost many thousands of long-term clients.
This week Hoser said “These adverts are potentially a rehash of that whole saga and we do not need such damage again”.
Because SPORTSBET refused to stop airing the adverts after being told to, the SNAKEMAN is also seeking license fees, damages and punitive damages.
Punitive damages is likely to run to the millions of dollars as it has to be of an amount to punish Sportsbet for not stopping when properly asked to, as a deterrent to other would-be trademark infringers and to deter Sportsbet from infringing again.
As the parent company of Sportsbet has a market capitalization of about 8 Billion, the likely punitive damages faced by Sportsbet is in the millions of dollars.
Snakeman Raymond Hoser has publicly stated that he intends using winnings from court proceedings to fund further critically important wildlife conservation projects that his team have been active in for some decades.
Sportsbet have indicated that they intend defending the Snakeman’s claim, but Hoser says “The Sportsbet action is usual for a trademark infringer. They never come out and say they have stolen and used someone else’s IP. They try to blame shift to the victim.”
Hoser has fought trademark infringement actions in the Federal Court previously and in every case the infringers have ended up paying Hoser damages before the matters went to hearing.
Hoser also noted “The infringers have ended up collectively paying us significant amounts in the many thousands of dollars every time and every time they have sought confidentiality in the amounts as they are embarrassed by the fact that they have been caught out breaking the law”.
Snakeman Raymond Hoser is the world’s foremost reptile expert, having authored nine major books including the definitive works Australian Reptiles and Frogs and Endangered Animals of Australia as well as hundreds of significant scientific papers.
He is a regular on TV documentaries and news bulletins as the recognized expert on reptiles.
He has also discovered and named hundreds of species of reptile worldwide, including over 100 in Australia, and in total named more than anyone else born in the last 150 years, and by a significant margin.
He is also a world leader in breeding rare and threatened species of wildlife. In a world first, he developed a successful method of artificial insemination for use in snakes and lizards that has since been used to recue dozens of species from the brink of extinction.
The Snakeman has repeatedly said he does not like to fight animal abusers and trademark infringers through the courts to stop them, as this diverts himself and his dedicated team away from their critically important wildlife conservation work. However as a last resort Hoser can and will fight to protect the safety and welfare of both his clients and wildlife in general.
Further Information at http://www.snakeman.com.au
