Light & Wonder has agreed a multi-million-dollar settlement with Aristocrat Leisure in their dispute over intellectual property rights.
Under the terms of the settlement announced on Monday, Light & Wonder acknowledges that certain Aristocrat math information was used in connection with the development of its Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon games.
Light & Wonder has committed to permanently cease commercialisation of these games globally and to make best efforts to remove existing installations, with the company also agreeing not to make any further use of the Aristocrat math information and copyright works in future games.
As part of the settlement, Light & Wonder will pay compensation of US$127.5 million to Aristocrat and Aristocrat’s claims against Light & Wonder in Australia and the United States will be dismissed.
“Aristocrat welcomes fair competition but will always robustly defend and enforce its intellectual property rights,” said Aristocrat chief executive Trevor Croker. “As an ideas and innovation company our intellectual property is vital to our ongoing success. We are committed to protecting the great work of our dedicated creative and technical teams.
“We welcome this positive outcome, which includes significant financial compensation and follows the decisive action we took to ensure the preservation of Aristocrat’s valuable intellectual property assets,” Croker added. “This decisive action included securing a preliminary injunction in September 2024, at which time the court recognised that Light & Wonder was able to develop Dragon Train by using Aristocrat’s valuable trade secrets and without investing the equivalent time and money.”
Light & Wonder chief executive Matt Wilson commented: “Light & Wonder is pleased to resolve this matter and move forward. We are firmly committed to doing business the right way – respecting our competitors’ intellectual property rights while protecting our own rights.
“This matter arose when a former employee inappropriately used certain Aristocrat math without our knowledge and in direct violation of our policies. Upon discovery, we took immediate action and have since implemented strengthened processes aimed at preventing similar issues in the future. This settlement protects the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders, and allows us to continue our focus on developing and delivering the market-leading content our customers expect—without distraction or disruption.”
Shares in Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. (ASX:ALL) gained 0.30 per cent to close at A$57.39 per share in Sydney Monday, while shares in Light & Wonder Inc. (ASX:LNW) surged 17.97 per cent to close at A$182.50 per share.