Aristocrat Gaming has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against competitor Light & Wonder, and the first phase went well for the plaintiff as the judge ruled the company will be allowed to proceed with the litigation.
Let’s take a closer look at the possible outcomes of this legal battle and how it could impact top-rated sportsbooks‘ competitive dynamics.
Battle of the Goliaths
Aristocrat Gaming and Light & Wonder are two of the biggest slot machine manufacturers in the world, which means there is a natural-born rivalry between them. However, this most recent copyright lawsuit brought by Aristocrat Gaming was expected to be shut down early, as many legal eagles did not believe the case had merit.
Yet, the case will continue as the plaintiff scored an early victory with most parts of the suit being allowed, while the other two, trade dress and deceptive trade practices, were dismissed, but with leave to amend. This means that Aristocrat will get the opportunity to prove they are valid and revise its complaint if it wishes to do so.
Dragon Link vs. Jewel of the Dragon
But the heft of the lawsuit rests with trade secrets being divulged from two former Aristocrat employees who went to work for Light & Wonder in 2021. The complaint largely asserts that its game, Dragon Link, was copied by L&W and made into Jewel of the Dragon. Aristocrat contends that its former employee, Emma Charles, revealed proprietary information to her new employer about Dragon Link, a game she helped develop. The other employee, Lloyd Sefton, has been accused of downloading Aristocrat’s trade secrets.
It wasn’t a total victory for Aristocrat but it was a better early outcome than many anticipated. A spokesperson for Aristocrat Gaming said, “Aristocrat is pleased the court has upheld a number of its substantive claims in this ruling and will continue to strongly protect its IP (intellectual property).”
What Do the Experts Say?
Aristocrat is seeking legal remedies to restrict Light & Wonder from manufacturing its Jewel of the Dragon, having referred to as a “cheap knockoff” of Dragon Link, and demanding financial compensation as well.
However, according to one legal scholar, the likely outcome will be an out-of-court settlement. “Slot machine manufacturers sue each other all the time,” said I. Nelson Rose, professor emeritus at Whittier College and author of the GamblingAndTheLaw blog. “I’ve never counted up the lawsuits, but there could be more lawsuits between manufacturers than any other two parts of the gaming industry.”
Aristocrat’s Trade Secrets Case
Mary LaFrance, a professor of intellectual property law at the Boyd School of Law at UNLV echoed Professor Rose’s opinion, saying, “I would say it’s not easy unless you have a smoking gun.”
“They (Aristocrat) mentioned one employee was caught downloading thousands of files before he left Aristocrat,” she said.
The employees in question would be pivotal to the case in the discovery phase as their laptops, PCs, tablets, or any other technology associated with them would be investigated for transfer of proprietary information and documents.
LaFrance added, “They’d be looking at his personal devices to see what he downloaded (to find) direct evidence of information that was taken by an employee and then potentially disclosed to the new employer. But the thing is with that particular employee, I think, was such a recent hire that I’m somewhat doubtful that anything he took with him would actually have influenced the game that is currently being offered by Light & Wonder,” she said.
