Entain’s Sportingbet brand has lost trademark protection across most betting and gaming-related goods and services following a significant EUIPO ruling.
The EU Intellectual Property Office’s Cancellation Division issued its decision on 18 June 2026, targeting a mark that was originally filed in 2003 and registered in 2005.
The office ruled that the “sportingbet” mark was descriptive and lacked distinctive character for goods and services tied to betting and gambling activities.
The mark was struck down across large parts of six trademark classes covering electronic publications, communications, gambling-related financial services, data transmission and gaming itself.
The challenge was brought by SB Entertainment, a Maltese company behind the rival Sportingwin brand, as part of a wider commercial dispute between the two operators.
An Entain spokesperson said: “This case concerns a specific EU trademark registration and not Entain’s ability to use the Sportingbet brand. The decision has no impact on Sportingbet’s operations, products or services, and Sportingbet remains fully available for use by Entain.”
Entain also pushed back firmly on the substance of the ruling, with the spokesperson adding: “Entain does not accept the conclusion that Sportingbet is descriptive or non-distinctive. The brand has operated in the market for many years and is recognised by consumers as identifying the commercial source of our services. The decision is not final and we expect to pursue an appeal.”
The Cancellation Division found that English-speaking consumers would read the sign as meaning a bet or gambling activity related to sports, with its visual styling doing too little to change that conclusion.
The division stated: “The stylised elements are so negligible that they do not endow the trademark as a whole with any distinctive character.”
It further noted that using blue for “sporting” and red for “bet” only made the two words easier to read rather than functioning as a badge of origin.
The Cancellation Division also stated: “The graphic elements do not distract the consumer’s attention from the descriptive message conveyed.”
Sportingbet Limited, part of the Entain group, argued the term was a coined and grammatically unusual construction rather than a plain everyday description of its services.
Entain pointed to more than two decades of trading, a global portfolio of similar marks dating back to 2000, and high-profile sponsorships including Tottenham Hotspur and FC Steaua București.
Entain further argued: “No English-speaking consumer would ever say they were placing a ‘sportingbet’ or even a ‘sporting bet’.”
The brand has operated since 1998 and was acquired by Entain in 2013, with sites and apps running across multiple markets including the UK, Brazil, Latam, Greece and Germany.
The ruling leaves Sportingbet protected only for a narrow set of advertising, marketing, database and real estate services, where the link to gambling is not inherent.
This outcome may hamper Entain’s ability to enforce the specific trademark against competitors using similar branding across European markets.
The office noted that earlier registration attempts for the standalone word “sportingbet” had repeatedly been refused, though it stressed it was not bound by any previous decisions.
Each side was ordered to bear its own costs, and the decision remains open to appeal at the EUIPO Boards of Appeal.
