The Lotto trademark is generic and does not belong to the National Lotteries Board, according to a recent court ruling, Business Day newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“The expunging of the Lotto trademark opens the floodgates. This means that third parties who wish to sell or deal with lottery matters can use the name Lotto freely,” said patent lawyer Don MacRobert.

The ruling was made by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday in favour of the On-line Lottery Services, which allows consumers to play on the Lottofun website.

The case went to the Supreme Court of Appeal after the High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of the National Lotteries Board, which wanted to stop the use of the name Lottofun.

Lottofun then took the matter on appeal and won.