Free to-play fantasy sports stock exchange Fandex has taken a step forward towards securing its intellectual property, announcing today that it has received US patent for its platform.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted US patent No. 11,436,674 to the fantasy business which covers certain aspects of the company’s fantasy sports team and player stock exchange.
“This is a huge moment for us here at Fandex as our team has worked hard since 2017 to create this patented platform and we look forward to speaking with the market leaders in igaming to discuss licensing and other partnerships” said Matt D’Alessandro, CEO of Fandex. “The patent not only adds to our intellectual property portfolio covering our novel fantasy sports exchange, but it also strengthens our competitive advantage.”
D’Alessandro outlined the business’s future IP strategy.
“We have additional patents pending as part of our IP protection strategy, and we will continue our innovation efforts to further enhance our market position and drive revenue growth.”
Risky business
A “stock exchange” model based on sportspeople and their statistics has already been experimented in other jurisdictions, most dramatically in the UK, with examples including the ill-fated Football Index, which launched in 2015. Due to liquidity issues, the platform changed the structure of its dividend pay-out system in March 2021, leading to a run on all shares on the system and its eventual collapse.
On 11 March 2021, the business’s parent company BetIndex went into administration, only hours after suspending trading on the platform.
In the aftermath, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) commissioned inquiry to assess whether there had been any regulatory failure in the course of Football Index’s existence. Malcom Sheehan QC led the inquiry, who criticized the business as a “Ponzi scheme” – a characterization that the Gambling Commission did not endorse.