DraftKings Seeks Invalidation of Patent Invented by Commerce Secretary Lutnick

DraftKings is requesting that a panel of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) nullify a patent that trading house Cantor Fitzgerald says the gaming company copied for its benefit.

U.S. Patent No. 12,406,284, of which former Cantor CEO and current Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is listed as the primary inventor, pertains to geolocation technology that is commonplace in the sports wagering industry. Geolocation services, which are typically purchased through third-party vendors, are used by sportsbook operators to ensure that their clients are placing wagers from jurisdictions in which sports wagering is legal.

Citing U.S. code, the gaming company is pushing for an inter parties review while requesting that the board find the 18 claims in question “unpatentable.”

DraftKings Could Be in for a Patent Fight

Patent squabbles, including those pertaining to geolocation services, aren’t unheard of in the online gaming space. How things shake out in the Cantor Fitzgerald/DraftKings spat remains to be seen, but it’s possible the deck is stacked against the gaming company.

The Commerce Department has jurisdiction over the USPTO, meaning Lutnick is the boss of the USPTO Director John Squires. Squires, who became 60^th director of the USPTO a year ago, has been publicly effusive in his praise of Lutnick.

More relevant to DraftKings is the fact that under his leadership, the patent office has moved to significantly limit access to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) — the very board to which the gaming company is appealing in an effort to have the Cantor patent annulled.

Both Squires and his predecessor, Coke Morgan Stewart, made it harder for filers to get in front of the PTAB, typically citing patent ages or court rulings.

Cantor Previously Sued DraftKings, FanDuel

In April, Interactive Games LLC, a unit of Cantor, sued DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel, alleging the two largest domestic online sportsbook operators infringed on its patents. That suit arrived a decade after Interactive Games brought similar litigation against the sports wagering giants, which was challenged by both companies.

In the suit brought earlier this year, the Cantor unit accuses the two gaming companies of infringing on five of its patents and requested an undisclosed amount of financial damages.

Interactive Games was once a part of Cantor Gaming, which no longer operates. That entity was familiar with controversy, enduring allegations of money laundering and nearly losing its Nevada license in 2018. The parent company sold the business in 2019.