Evolution has refiled a lawsuit that accuses Light & Wonder of infringing on its patents related to Lightning Roulette.
Filed in the Nevada District Court, Evolution alleges that Light & Wonder’s Roulette X, Power X and 88 Fortunes Blaze Live Roulette games, the latter of which was launched in January, infringe upon the patents of Evolution’s live casino offering.
In February, Nevada District Court Judge Cristina Silva dismissed the initial lawsuit, which focused on Roulette X, explaining that she believed the patents around the Lightning Roulette game were too vague to be enforceable.
In the new suit, Evolution has refined its arguments around the patents to address the concerns raised in Silva’s ruling.
Wilful and malicious misappropriation
At the heart of the case is Lightning Roulette, a live casino roulette product that combines mechanically generated game values with electronically generated game values in the form of ‘Lucky numbers’ that are assigned to certain numbers each game and offer greater payouts.
Evolution claims that Light & Wonder has engaged in “wilful and malicious misappropriation” of the patents that surround the game to develop competing live roulette games with “strikingly similar” features.
The suit states: “Evolution will be irreparably harmed if [Light & Wonder] is permitted to continue to manufacture, import, use, offer to sell and/or sell systems.
“Evolution will be forced to compete against the very technology that it spent significant times and resources researching, developing and bringing to market.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Light & Wonder entered an agreement with Evolution to develop Lightning Roulette for retail casinos, however, the deal fell apart in advance of Light & Wonder launching Roulette X.
It confirmed that trade secrets relating to the game were shared as part of this process with the intention of aiding Light & Wonder to develop the physical version of Lightning Roulette.
Cease and desist
Evolution first sent a letter to Light & Wonder demanding it take the necessary steps to “refrain from further violation of Evolution’s intellectual property” in February 2022. However, Light & Wonder has since launched the Power X and 88 Fortunes Blaze Live Roulette games that have drawn the ire of Evolution.
Following the release of 88 Fortunes Blaze Live Roulette, Evolution sent another letter threatening further legal action to Light & Wonder in February, then added its concerns about the game, which is said to be operational at at least two live dealer studios, one in the US and one in Europe.
Evolution is seeking a judgment preventing Light & Wonder from offering these games, treble damages and return profits Light & Wonder obtained from offering the games in question.
In her motion dismissing the case, Silva allowed Evolution to amend its complaint but did express doubts about their success given the failures she found in the enforceability of Evolution’s patents.
Light & Wonder has not commented on the latest lawsuit, as it has a policy of not commenting on active litigation.
