A Pulaski County Circuit judge said Thursday that he’ll decide within a week whether a dispute over ownership of three lottery-related trademarks should go to trial.
An attorney for Alpha Marketing Inc. of North Little Rock, which is seeking court approval of its ownership of the trademarks, asked Judge Wendell Griffen to respect the licenses granted by the Arkansas secretary of state to the firm for “Arkansas Lottery,” “Arkansas Lotto” and “Lottery Arkansas.”
Attorney Skip Davidson asked the judge to reject accusations by the Arkansas attorney general’s office that the marketing firm obtained the trademarks dishonestly and isn’t entitled to them. Alpha Marketing sued the Arkansas Lottery Commission in March to get the judge to clarify ownership of the terms, some of which owner Ed Dozier trademarked as far back as 1994.
The company claims that the attorney general has threatened legal action if he continued to use the terms in marketing.
Arguing to have the case dismissed, Senior Assistant Attorney General Warren Readnour, representing the commission, acknowledged his position brought one state agency into conflict with another. He told the judge that the terms should never have been licensed to Alpha, since lotteries were illegal in Arkansas when the company obtained the trademarks.
Davidson disputed that claim, arguing the attorney general’s definition of lotteries is too narrow and that the law has always recognized some legal lotteries, ones that don’t require players to pay for a chance to win a prize.
Readnour also disputed a claim by Alpha that the state should have to pay it damages, telling the judge that Arkansas is immune from the that kind of financial claim through sovereign immunity.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 02/25/2011