Casinos Austria won proceedings at first instance

The operator had gone to law against Casinos Austria and had requested a preliminary injunction because of a statement that the Casinos Austria AG had made on their webpage as well as in a press report.

A statement of the company said that their firm is the only one in Austria who has the right to offer Poker, as the Administrative Court had clarified that Poker were to be considered as gambling, that illegal gambling were amerciable according to § 168 of the penal code and that no other company than the Casinos Austria AG had the right to act as a commercial provider of Poker in Austria.

The Commercial Court in Vienna did not have to deal with the context of this petition for the order of a preliminary injunction but had dismissed the petition against Casinos Austria right away due to formal reasons.

From the Court's point of view, this petition is legally not eligible for securing the claimed injunctive relief. The Casinos Austria AG has also argued that this card casino is not eligible for filing an action. The judge, too, subscribed to this view, stating that the suing card casino had not certified its legal legitimation for going to court.

The card casino has the right to appeal against this judgment within 14 days.