PokerWorks

Two Plus Two Publishing, home of the ever popular Two Plus Two forums, filed lawsuits in Las Vegas in early December against several individuals. The federal court actions allege trademark violations against Anthony Scocozza, Jacknames.com, and Russell Aaron “Dutch” Boyd.

The first suit, filed on December 4 against Scocozza, noted that its online forums and “poker information community” depends on its business - and hundreds of thousands of members and customers around the world - but that Scocozza infringed upon the Two Plus Two domain name by linking his domain to a competing site. Scocozza’s domain name, registered to him on January 28, 2009, used “Two Plus Two” in its name and sought to divert customers from the long-standing and trademarked Two Plus Two site. Charges include cybersquatting, trademark and copyright infringement, unfair competition, deceptive trade practices, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. Scocozza responded to the Las Vegas Sun, which originally reported the story, by stating that he had “nothing to do with the web site at issue.”

The second suit involved Jacknames.com and Boyd was filed on December 8 and claimed that the site was registered by Boyd on July 14, 2004, and used the phrase “Two Plus Two” to draw customers to a competing website offering poker strategy and gaming services. The charges are similar, minus only copyright infringement, to the Scocozza case.

Boyd responded with a statement posted on the Two Plus Two forums as a public response to the writer of the Las Vegas Sun article and regarding Two Plus Two founder Mason Malmuth and the filed lawsuit.

“I’m the poker player getting sued by Mason Malmuth…

“It is never fun to be sued…especially by someone you look up to and respect professionally.

“Mason Malmuth is a genius poker theorist and poker author and his books are largely responsible for much of my own success in poker, including my world series of poker bracelet.

“Personally, however, Mason has shown over and over that he is a bully and willing to outspend his perceived adversaries into submission.

“The lawsuit he is bringing against me is based on a domain name that he currently owns; twoplustwopoker.com. It is without merit and is designed to encourage me to pay him off or face a substantial legal bill defending myself against it.

“Unfortunately, the strategy will work, and he will be successful in wasting both of our time and money as well as the Nevada taxpayer’s money. The only people who will be coming out ahead in this game is Mr. Malmuth’s overpriced attorneys.”

No legal responses or countersuits have yet been logged by the Las Vegas court system pertaining to either of the lawsuits.