Fraternity Sues Gambling Site

[Harvey]

Arguably the most famous fraternity in the nation, the 151-year-old, Evanston, Ill.-based Sigma Chi has filed suit in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court over an unauthorized online gambling site allegedly set up under the fraternity's name by Penalty Box and owners Joshua D. Kilgrow and Troy Young.

Sigma Chi's allegations range from trademark infringement and dilution to unfair competition and seeks a court order transferring the the website and related domain names to the fraternity. Sigma Chi also seeks unspecified damages, court costs and attorneys' fees, along with an accounting of any profits reaped from the site.
On Thursday, the site was not accessible. Repeated efforts to reach the Penalty Box, which operates a pub, or Kilgrow and Young for comment on the suit were unsuccessful.

Sigma Chi President Mark Anderson characterized the action as part of the fraternity's ongoing commitment to protecting its good name.

The suit states that Kilgrow, a Sigma Chi alumnus filing under the Penalty Box name, registered the Web site with Internet registrar

Tucows Inc. in September 2004. Not only did Kilgrow violate the fraternity's trademarks, Sigma Chi alleges, but he also violated fraternity bylaws prohibiting anyone from commercially exploiting the organization's name or symbols without permission.

In addition to the Sigma Chi name in the site's address, the fraternity's logo, marks and shield symbols are used throughout the site's pages, the suit claims.
Beginning this past February, Kilgrow allegedly solicited Sigma Chi members to use the site, intimating it had the fraternity's backing, the suit charges. An April 21 letter from Sigma Chi demanded the defendants cease using the fraternity's name in their enterprise.

The complaint states that Young e-mailed the fraternity on June 6 promising the site would be taken down within a month, but it allegedly was still operating up to the time Sigma Chi filed its suit Tuesday.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart. No hearings had been scheduled.