Penn Entertainment is facing a new legal challenge tied to the technology behind its Hollywood Casino mobile platform. Single Action Bet Tech LLC has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleging that Penn and its digital unit, Penn Interactive Ventures LLC, used protected wagering technology without authorisation. The complaint, filed on 12 December, targets two patents covering what Single Action describes as single-action betting systems designed for mobile and online wagering.
The dispute centres on how bets are placed on smartphones and other computing devices. According to the complaint, Single Action’s patents describe systems that allow users to complete the entire wagering process through a single tap or click. That one interaction triggers authentication, payment verification, geolocation checks, and bet execution automatically in the background.
How Single-Action Betting is Designed to Function
Traditional digital betting flows often require several steps before a wager is finalised. Users usually select a wager amount, confirm the bet, approve payment, and then begin play. Single Action argues that this layered process creates friction, particularly on mobile devices, where precise taps and repeated confirmations can interrupt gameplay.
One of the patents explains the underlying approach in technical terms. “The device and method of the present invention configures a gaming device to have an improved data input key set to facilitate the players wagering activity according to one or more wagering systems such as Martingale, Anti-Martingale and others. The device and method can also configure a processor to detect wagering according a system and thereafter display the suggested next wager according to the system,” according to a Google Patents description of Single Action Bet Tech’s patents.
Another section of patent background material highlights how multi-step interfaces can deter players. “Typical mobile games that accept real-money betting today (a few exist in Europe and a few other countries) require the user to use multiple clicks (or touches) to: a) Select a bet amount b) place their bet; and/or c) begin the game,” the patent background states. “These multiple clicks may cause the user to become uninterested or unwilling to place the bet, especially on a mobile device in which it is more difficult to click/touch on the proper portion of the user interface screen.”
Single Action maintains that its technology reduces those steps to one, allowing the system to retrieve stored account information, confirm the user’s login status, verify sufficient account balance, and confirm the bettor’s physical location before processing the wager.
Allegations Against Penn and Prior Licensing Discussions
The lawsuit names both Penn Entertainment and Penn Interactive Ventures LLC, which operates Hollywood Casino’s digital betting and gaming services. According to the complaint, Hollywood Casino’s mobile app and related web services infringe at least one claim from each of the two patents at issue.
According to Bloomberg Law, Single Action asserts that it owns full rights to the patents and has never granted Penn or its affiliates a licence to use the technology. The company further alleges that Penn had prior knowledge of the patents before the lawsuit was filed. That claim is based on outreach that began in December 2024, including an initial notice letter sent to a Penn executive. Correspondence and meetings continued through 2025, but no licensing agreement was reached.
Based on those interactions, Single Action argues that the alleged infringement was knowing. The complaint seeks damages, interest, legal costs, and attorneys’ fees. It also asks the court to declare wilful infringement and award treble damages if that claim is proven.
The case arrives during a period of adjustment for Penn’s online betting business. Earlier this month, the company replaced ESPN Bet with theScore Bet, a move that analysts have viewed as a shift toward platforms showing stronger growth. Hollywood Casino’s app has delivered better market share results than ESPN Bet, positioning iGaming as a more central part of Penn’s digital strategy. Sports betting remains part of the business, but primarily as a customer acquisition channel feeding the iGaming platform.
The lawsuit’s outcome could influence how betting apps design their interfaces. The case may be dismissed, settled, or proceed to a jury trial. A settlement could involve licensing terms or technical changes, while a verdict could affect how operators implement wagering flows across mobile platforms.
For now, the dispute places renewed attention on the role of interface design, backend automation, and patent ownership in online betting, where speed and simplicity remain closely tied to user engagement.
