Aristocrat has made a significant step in its legal action against Light & Wonder, securing a preliminary injunction related to the infringement of its intellectual property related to Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train game.
Back in March, it was reported that Aristocrat was set to sue Light & Wonder, claiming it engaged in a campaign to copy the game Dragon Link, also claiming that Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train game was designed by a former Aristocrat game designer who had worked on the Dragon Link game while at Aristocrat.
With this decision, Light & Wonder is prohibited from “any continued or planned sale, leasing, or other commercialisation of Dragon Train,” with the court recognising that by misappropriating trade secrets related to Dragon Link, Light & Wonder was able to create Dragon Train without putting the equivalent time and money into it.
Aristocrat Chief Product Officer Matthew Primmer commented: "We are extremely pleased with the court's decision.
"This ruling underscores the value of our intellectual property and reaffirms our commitment to protecting the integrity of our business. We will continue to innovate and invest in cutting-edge solutions, knowing that the law protects our creative efforts."
Light & Wonder has responded to the injunction stating, “We respectfully disagree with the judge's decision and will promptly file an appeal.”
The supplier also underlined its performance and growth of its gaming portfolio, with Dragon Train being only one part of it.
Light & Wonder President and CEO Matt Wilson said: “We have the best game design talent in the industry, and they are creating great games across all our channels.
“We are excited about the new games we will be featuring at the Global Gaming Expo in October. We expect our strong growth trajectory to continue, notwithstanding this decision.
“We have built an amazing business and a solid financial foundation over the last several years with great teams driving our success and are highly confident in our future of continuing innovation and ability to achieve our stated 2025 $1.4bn targeted consolidated AEBITDA.”
In reaction to this news, Light & Wonder’s stock price on the Australian market fell to AU$134.53 (US$91.95) at the time of writing (09:17 UK time), representing a decline of 18.4% from the closing price of 164.90 AUD on 23 September.
