Sweden’s horserace betting monopoly is waging a trademark war with a Malta-based online upstart horning in on the monopoly’s turf.

The AB Trav Och Galopp (ATG) monopoly is like most horseracing operators these days, i.e. people are losing interest in their reason for being. All the more reason to object to an unauthorized interloper like Legolas Invest, which recently announced plans to launch the Malta-licensed Legolas.bet site in Sweden.

Legolas is run by Rune Andersson (pictured), a Swedish racing industry figure who believes the government takes too big a cut of ATG’s proceeds to fund non-racing initiatives. Andersson reportedly tried to convince ATG’s owners, the Swedish Trotting Association, to set up operations in Malta to reduce their tax burden but they wouldn’t listen. Frustrated, Andersson formed Legolas.bet, which claims to return 40% of its proceeds to the local racing industry.

Swedish media outlet Realtid reported that ATG fought back by filing a trademark claim on the name Legolas in Sweden, then followed that up with a trademark infringement suit in Stockholm District Court that seeks fines of SEK 3m (US $346k) for each and every time that Legolas.bet uses its own name in Swedish-facing marketing.