The Complainant, Veikkaus Oy is a lottery, a game of chance and betting service provider operating in Finland. Veikkaus was founded in 1940 for sports betting in Finland. The domain veikkausfi.com corresponds directly to the registered trademarks of the Complainant VEIKKAUS. Veikkaus is the only legally operating betting and game of chance service provider in Finland. It holds a monopoly position that is based on law. As the Finnish law contains rules and processes for use of the company’s profits for the benefit of the society, the games of Veikkaus enjoy goodwill.<\/p>\n
The Finnish game of chance system is very restrictive when it comes to gaming, gambling and betting. The system was reformed in 2017, and the previous three operators Fintoto (operating toto horse racing games), RAY (casino) and Veikkaus (betting and lottery) merged into a single gambling, betting, and game of chance company Veikkaus Oy (Complainant) owned by the Finnish State. The Finnish system is based on the exclusive right principle, with the purpose of operating games responsibly and mitigating the possible risks involved in gambling and games of chance. The system secures the legal protection of those engaging in games of chance and prevents gambling-related fraud. In addition, the law stipulates rules on how to decide about distribution of the profits that are gained. The profit has to be used for the benefit of society. Veikkaus is the only company that is entitled to legally offer gambling, betting and lottery in Finland and it is under strict monitoring and control. Today, about 40 percent of adult Finns play Veikkaus games and use their betting services weekly and for example more than 80 percent of Finnish adults have reported playing Veikkaus at least once.<\/p>", "other_legal_proceedings": "
The Panel is not aware of any other legal proceedings which are pending or decided and which relate to the disputed domain name.<\/p>", "no_response_filed": "
COMPLAINANT:<\/p>\n
The Complainant avers that<\/p>\n
The Respondent (or a third party before them) has registered the domain name <veikkausfi.com> on July 18, 2025. The domain <veikkausfi.com> relates not only to their registered company name Veikkaus Oy, but also to one of the main businesses of Veikkaus, namely, betting and gambling services and also to their prior registered VEIKKAUS trademarks.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The domain <veikkausfi.com> leads to a landing page, which is an identical copy of the original veikkaus.fi website of the Complainant. All the information is related to Complainant’s services, namely, betting or games of chance, and to third-party gambling services, which are all provided in violation of Finnish game of chance legislation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The Respondent has no right or legitimate interest in respect of the disputed domain <veikkausfi.com>, and it has been registered in bad faith, and it is used in bad faith. It is not a coincidence that the Respondent has selected to register the domain <veikkausfi.com>. The information provided on the website is identical with Veikkaus.fi and it refers mainly to games and services provided by Veikkaus.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The disputed domain <veikkausfi.com> is highly similar to earlier VEIKKAUS trademarks of Veikkaus and also to VEIKKAUS related domains of Veikkaus, including but not limited to domains such as <veikkaus.fi>, <veikkaus.com>, and <veikkaus.eu>. In addition to the domain <veikkausfi.com> being highly similar with the trademark VEIKKAUS, the overall appearance of the domain is confusingly similar to the Complainant’s prior VEIKKAUS trademarks and causes likelihood of confusion.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The page veikkausfi.com is Finnish and in Finnish language and it is therefore aimed only at the Finnish consumers. Given that the website is in Finnish, the target group of the advertised games are Finnish people. The online casino games cannot be provided to Finnish consumers in Finland if they are not operated by Veikkaus.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The disputed domain name <veikkausfi.com> comprises of Complainant’s trademark VEIKKAUS and an appendix “fi”, which relates directly to the universal country code of Finland, FI. VEIKKAUS is the dominant feature of the domain name <veikkausfi.com>, whereas “fi” does not have any distinctive character. With this combination of VEIKKAUS and “fi”, the Internet users are likely to assume that the disputed domain <veikkausfi.com> belongs to the Complainant, since Veikkaus is the only official betting service provider in Finland. Given that Veikkaus is also the owner of similar Veikkaus domains, such as <veikkaus.com>, consumers will presume that the domain <veikkausfi.com> is also owned by the Complainant or has some other close connection to it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The veikkausfi.com website is an illegal copy of the Complainant’s own website Veikkaus.fi and utilizes the goodwill and reputation of Veikkaus and the awareness and intellectual property rights in the Veikkaus for the purpose of marketing various third-party betting games. There is an underlying purpose in the exploitation of the Veikkaus brand and intellectual property of Veikkaus in the marketing of online casinos, which are illegally marketed to Finnish consumers. Veikkausfi.com domain and the website cause a likelihood of confusion with the Veikkaus brand, and the domain is therefore also misleading consumers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Given the monopoly status of Veikkaus in Finland, any references to the term “Veikkaus” on the website as in veikkausfi.com refer to the Complainant company and contain significant and detailed similarities between trademarks and other intellectual property rights of Veikkaus.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
RESPONDENT:<\/p>\n
The Respondent has not appeared formally or informally to controvert the evidence submitted by the Complainant.<\/p>", "rights": "
The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(i) of the Policy).<\/p>", "no_rights_or_legitimate_interests": "
The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the Respondent to have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(ii) of the Policy).<\/p>", "bad_faith": "
The Complainant has, to the satisfaction of the Panel, shown the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith (within the meaning of paragraph 4(a)(iii) of the Policy).<\/p>", "procedural_factors": "
The Panel is satisfied that all procedural requirements under UDRP were met and there is no other reason why it would be inappropriate to provide a decision.<\/p>", "decision": "Accepted", "panelists": [ "Gerald Levine Ph.D, Esq." ], "date_of_panel_decision": "2025-10-06 00:00:00", "informal_english_translation": "
Veikkaus is the owner of the Finnish VEIKKAUS trademark registration no. 248158, which was filed in 2005 and registered in 2010.<\/p>", "decision_domains": { "veikkausfi.com": "TRANSFERRED" }, "panelist": null, "panellists_text": null }