‘Every situation is different’ on US intellectual property

As the US sports betting market continues to grow in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are looking at breaking into the burgeoning sector, and are looking into the nuances of regulation as well as factors such as intellectual property.

What is it?

A panel of experienced betting industry experts discussed the development of the US sports betting industry, highlighting its expansion and the significance of intellectual property rights and patents for protecting products.

Who is it?

Host – Jonathan Boyarsky, Venture Fellow at Newchip

Guest – Andrew Cross, Co-Founder of HotBoxPools

Guest – Julian Fialkow, Senior Investment Associate at Drive by DraftKings

Guest – Mark Benrus, CEO & CFO of Creative Wagering Technologies

What is being said?

Discussing the development of the US sector, Fialkow said: “You’re definitely seeing a new wave of states now really pushing to have legalised sports betting come into their next bill. 

“The pandemic has clearly taken away a lot of the tax incentives of a lot of these states and a lot of funding in a way, so there’s been no real reason before to expedite the process but now there’s all the reasons to do it. The states they see what’s happening and obviously all those states that have legalised you’re gonna see a huge shift.

He also commented on intellectual property rights in relation to the sports betting sector in the US, saying: “Every situation is different, there are some markets within sports betting whether it’s peer to peer, whether its social gaming, whether its Esports Betting – obvious with regards to betting on sports, intellectual property and rights and media rights are gonna have different nuances about them.

“It really comes down to – does this product that we’re designing have some sort of moat around it? It doesn’t necessarily have to be about patents.”

Andrew Cross also highlighted intellectual property, referring to HotBoxPool’s Super Bowl Squares offering, stating: “Intellectual property is certainly a very important thing, and in this sports betting space where a lot of things are very similar in terms of lines offered by the different sports, we wanted to find a creative way to protect what we were building.”

He continued: “What we did by adding on this engagement piece, we took Super Bowl Squares, and we basically owned any sort of marketplace or element of interaction with other users. And that gives us a little bit of a competitive edge versus anyone else who wanted to come in and offer Super Bowl Squares.”

Why should I watch it?

To hear unique insights into the development of the US sports betting industry, and learn about the importance of understanding intellectual property rights, among other topics.

Where can I see more?

Source – Newchip YouTube Channel