Patent Suit Could Present Issue for PrizePicks: Claims Company 'Blantently Ripped Off' Patents
- Does a recent lawsuit explain why PrizePicks just hired bank specializing in acquisitions?
- Suit claims PrizePicks 'brazenly ripped off' Vetnos' products.
- Judge rules PrizePicks failed to establish that asserted patents are abstract.
- Jordan Love agrees to blockbuster deal extending his contract through 2028.
- Vice President Kamala Harris keeps rising in polls, odds.
Gambling News
Patent Case a Potential Threat to PrizePicks Business
PrizePicks, the largest daily fantasy sports company, isn’t pursuing an outright sale, according to one of the people, who asked to not be identified discussing information that hasn’t been made public. And yet they just hired a bank that specializes in such transactions.
They just hired the investment bank Moelis & Co. (NYSE: MC) to scout out M&A opportunities, according to Bloomberg News.
The news comes at an odds time.
Miami-based law firm Greenberg Traurig litigators obtained a favorable ruling for Vetnos LLC (Vetnos) just two weeks ago when Judge William M. Ray, II in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia adopted a Report and Recommendation by the Special Master denying PrizePicks's motion to dismiss a patent case brought by Vetnos.
In June of last year, Vetnos filed a complaint alleging that PrizePicks was infringing on Vetnos patents and misappropriating proprietary information. The Vetnos patents cover systems for providing daily fantasy sports games in which fans can test their sports knowledge and prediction skills and win prizes that are known as "fixed" in advance, which differ from pari-mutuel format of traditional fantasy sports games. More specifically, Vetnos alleges in its complaints that PrizePicks used the protected technologies to launch a fixed-odds daily fantasy sports game and be able to effectively produce matchups and manage risks to offer players higher prizes without losing money.
In his ruling, Judge Ray II noted "Instead, the daily fantasy game involves various additional limitations and variables that occur
depending on the user's selections," Judge Ray wrote. "Accordingly, the court concludes that PrizePicks has failed to establish that the asserted patents are abstract."
In its complaint, Vetnos claims that PrizePicks "chose to brazenly rip off" its products that power sports fantasy and betting platforms. PrizePicks' CEO Adam Wexler reportedly even told Vetnos head Dan Orlow in a 2018 phone call that because "we liked your game so much, we decided to copy it." And Vetnos alleged that one of its former employees absconded with confidential trade secrets, and was later hired as a consultant for PrizePicks.
The Atlanta-based daily fantasy sports company countered by claiming "Because the claims recite a generic computer implementation of an abstract idea without any additional inventive concept sufficient to transform the asserted patents' claimed subject matter intoa patent-eligible application, the court should hold that the asserted patents are invalid and dismiss counts I-III of the complaint."
A special master was appointed by Judge Ray II.
That special master, Lee & Hayes' William B. Dyer III, determined the following: "While it is certainly true that the federal circuit has found some claims direct[ed] to skills-based games to be abstract, the special master finds that the asserted patents claim more."
Supporting his conclusion, Dyer wrote, was the open question of whether the patented technologies could be replicated by "the human mind" — even one armed with pen and paper — which would undermine their protectability.
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NFL
Jordan Love Agrees to 4-Year, $220 Million Deal With Packers
The Packers on Friday agreed to terms with Jordan Love on a four-year, $220 million contract, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The $55 million average per year matches the Jacksonville Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence and the Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow ($55 million) for highest ever in league history.
The deal, which was negotiated by David Mulugheta and Andrew Kessler of Athletes First, also includes a record $75 million signing bonus and $155 million in new full guarantees.
Love, 25, is now contractually tied to Green Bay through the 2028 season and is scheduled to become a free agent again at age 30.
Oddsmakers anticipate a productive season ahead for Green Bay as BetUS has the team winning Over 9.5 regular season games at -140.
Politics
Latest Polls Show Harris Gaining
A newly released Fox News poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris gaining on the Republican nominee for president Donald Trump. The two are tied in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state. Pennsylvania's Governor, a candidate for Harris' VP, was coming in with a remarkable 61% approval rating.
The state of the race is similar to where it was in April, when Biden and Trump were tied 48-48%. The survey, released Friday, shows Harris and Trump locked in a tie at 49-49% -- barely different from what the final election results were in 2020 (49.85% Biden vs. 48.69% Trump). The poll results seem to indicate that Harris has held onto most of Biden's coalition.
Seven in 10 Pennsylvanians are extremely motivated to vote this year, with Democrats slightly more enthusiastic (75%) than Republicans (72%), and Independents decidedly less enthused at 43%.
A Wall Street Journal poll shows Trump leads Harris by two points.
The former president garnered 49 percent support among registered voters to the vice president’s 47 percent in the poll, conducted in the wake of President Biden leaving the 2024 presidential race.
Harris was at her shortest odds yet, +130, while Trump had dipped from -160 to -145 Friday.
Olympics
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