IGT Files Suit for Patent Infringement Against Aristocrat
G'day Yankies, Aussies, punters, casino millionaires, billionaires, legal eagles, politicians - one and all. Seems the casino wars escalate one again. Man "down under" in Australia, Greg Tingle of Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com has been delivering the "Australian Casino Wars", but at daybreak today we learned that the Aussie casino wars have gone very global in nature, with now U.S gaming giant International Game Technology (IGT) taking the fight to Aussie gaming manufacturer, Aristocrat Leisure Limited on Australia (commonly known as Aristocrat).
Readers will likely be family with both companies. IGT is widely considered the original and the best, and in recent years has expanded their online gaming arm known WagerWorks. Many of the world's leading online casinos such as PartyGaming's PartyCasino and Richard Branson's Virgin Casino carry the WagerWorks online games. Some of the most popular titles include Cleopatra, Monopoly, Wheel Of Fortune, Double Diamond, Elvis, Battle Ship and Da Vinci Diamonds, with Cleo holding the world's most popular online and offline slot of all time.
The gambling and gaming industry is known for its copy cats, trademark infringements and massive law suits, with "legal eagles" know to be very fond of the sector and its substantial payout jackpots!
This current lawsuit situation follows a long line of legal actions in gambling including Marvel Entertainment VS Cryptologic, Michael Jackson Estate VS "Michael Jackson Casino", Majestic Star Casino LLC VS "Majestic Star Casino" (online) and Vegas Pinnacle Entertainment VS Eskay SEO ("Belterra Casino Indiana")
Media Man's http://www.mediamanint.com Greg Tingle offered the following "The latest lawsuit from IGT against Australia's Aristocrat Leisure is not a surprise in my opinion. It's been a long time coming, with both parties being able to come to a mutually beneficial settlement to date. IGT is largely considered the world's most successful gaming machine manufacture, and some would say the original and best, of the modern era. Australia's Aristocrat has come under some substantial financial pressure in recent years, and this lawsuit action may very well add to this. The land based and online gambling community, legal and government sectors will be watching this one closely. My money is on IGT to win, but stranger things have happened. May the best brand win."
Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nov. 15, 2010
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) today announced the filing of a patent infringement lawsuit against Aristocrat Leisure Limited of Australia and its U.S. Affiliate Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., (collectively "Aristocrat") in connection with the sale and distribution of Aristocrat's gaming devices, including particularly Aristocrat's Viridian WS slot machines. The lawsuit comes after failed attempts to resolve the IP disputes between Aristocrat and IGT.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In the suit, IGT asserts that Aristocrat has willfully infringed and continues to infringe two patents directed to fundamental capabilities for authentication of gaming software:
U.S. Patent 6,620,047 entitled "Electronic Gaming Apparatus Having Authentication Data Sets"; and
U.S. Patent No. RE 39,370 entitled "Electronic Casino Gaming System with Improved Play Capacity, Authentication and Security."
"We filed this case because IGT's intellectual property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited by Aristocrat," said Robert C. Melendres, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at IGT. "IGT is the world's leading innovator and creator of intellectual property in the gaming industry."
About IGT
International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) is a global leader in the design, development, and manufacture of gaming machines and systems products, as well as online and mobile gaming solutions for regulated markets.
SOURCE IGT
