Rush Poker Question

[Ridge]

I was looking through the Full Tilt site today and was checking out their Rush Poker page. Obviously this is the hottest thing going in the poker world, and after what I saw I may have been wrong about people jumping on the Rush Tyep domains.

What I didn't know is that Ft is actually trying to Patent this game, which my first reaction was "They cannot patent a form of poker" - But my wife argued with me that it is the software variant they are goign after which makes more sense and make me think they might get away with it.

This of course boosts the value of the domains IMO since no other poker room could ever have it. So I dunno I knwo jack about how patents works anyway.

Here is their page though

Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker - Rush Poker: Patent Pending

Just curious what everyone thought, to me I'd like all rooms to get this game going as it seems to help rake and such.

Thoughts?

[leporello]

Yeah the patent pending is what made the domains worthwhile in acquiring imo. Without the patent the value wouldn't have been anywhere near it.

[Ridge]

Yeah that's a game changer and a detail I didn't know about.

So is everyone still seeing a big spike in MGR? The month seems to be starting off well anyway. I wonder what the ratio of RB vs non-rb players are in the rush games. Wouldn't it be nice if a room actually spent more time helping affiliate target players better....

[Jeremy]

If they get the patent, then I think they will take all the domains, no doubt, or at least cut us off as affiliates from using it in our URL's. If they don't however and every room launches the concept (which they will) and "Rush Poker" becomes a variation in itself, then I think the domains will be be very valuable.

That is a very interesting conversation right now. Is Rush Poker a trademark product, or just another variation of poker? Hell, none of us know. Nice thread though and an interesting talking point.

[321]

Lots of casino games are trademarked, and in this case there isn't any doubt they "invented" this game/software combo. Domains using the trademark are worthless.

As for the income, that's the interesting thing. According to Pokerscout there is more action but smaller games. This is generally good for cardrooms and MGR affiliates since the rake gets capped out at about $60. On the other hand, if too many of the games get too small then that should have a negative impact on the rake.

[CorryC]

See this is what I love about this whole rush poker thing...those affiliates that were not in the game 10 years ago dont have much of a chance to get ahold of some good domain names. Anybody could have jumped in and grabbed them Rush Poker domains. Very cool. Except - I was not one of these people, so now I am pissed at myself, as I did know about this for a while before it ever came out.

Just skimmed this up until now. I am an idiot - I see where the problem comes in with the domain names. so nevermind, it isnt that cool.

[Zujo]

A few thoughts:

Full Tilt has already told us we cannot use the domains to promote Full Tilt and that even owning them is a violation of their affiliate agreement. I disagree with the last part and think they would lose if it went to court, but that is what they are claiming.

A patent (which governs the technology) is not the same thing as a trademark (which governs the domain names). If they win a patent that does not give them an automatic trademark for the term 'rush poker'. They can apply for that trademark, or claim they own it by default, but the two are completely different things.

I have experienced a large spike in MGR for rakeback players since rush was launched. I assume other rakeback providers are experiencing similar MGR spikes.

I do not understand why anybody would think that domains with rush poker in them would be more valuable if Full Tilt wins their patent. That would limit the potential market for such domains to just Full Tilt and Full Tilt may attempt to file a trademark for Rush Poker, making such domains worthless if they succeed.

The domains would be more valuable if they lose the patent application and other sites launch rush poker with the name rush poker and that term is used as the name of a new game. So owning RushPokerTips.com would be like owning TexasHoldEmTips.com. If they win and get a trademark it would be like owning WSOPTips.com which is illegal to own and you can not only lose the domain but be sued for ever having owned it in the first place.

[Mike]

What about the fact that these domains were acquired before the patent was approved? Does that help affiliates at all?

I didn't jump on the rush poker bandwagon, I'm just curious.

[Zujo]

What about the fact that these domains were acquired before the patent was approved? Does that help affiliates at all?

I didn't jump on the rush poker bandwagon, I'm just curious.

I already explained this.

A patent has absolutely nothing to do with a trademark. A patent is for a technology. A trademark is for a name. Two completely separate filings and two completely separate sets of laws for enforcement.

If I register the domain ZooDooBooDoo.com today and start using it to sell shoes on the internet, it is my trademark. I don't have to file anything for it to be my trademark. It helps and it is wise, but it is not necessary. If somebody else registers ZooDooBooDooShoes.com and starts selling shoes after my site is established, I can sue them and get their domain plus damages. Again, regardless of whether I filed for a trademark for ZooDooBooDoo.

The point being that the second Full Tilt began marketing a product called Rush Poker they had a claim to the term Rush Poker as their trademark. It is very fuzzy because there was a site called FullRushPoker before this and because they invented a new game - so their case is not as strong as ZooDooBooDoo, but they have a case and a claim. Especially if you registered the domains after they released Rush Poker. If they were to attempt to go after FullRushPoker for violating their trademark, I think they would get laughed out of court (this is something called reverse hi-jacking). Everybody else I think they have a shot.

[pokerworx]

I think ive seen a site called rushpoker on the everleaf network that is a proper poker room, Ive looked recently and cant see it , in any case they wont get my names, there is nothing stopping rooms doin the same thing and calling it speedpoker, dash poker etc.. Im happy I got in early (ty Jeremy) if I get shut down its -20 if im ok I could do alot better.

Ive been looking at some sites and seen posts about full tilt getting domains etc.. How do you explain Full Tilt Rake Back - Get 27% rakeback from Full Tilt Poker looks like a private person/company (TonyG's one I think) owns it and they are allowed to promote???