14 DAY TRIAL // Companies ZeniMax Media and its id Software subsidiary are announcing that they are filing a lawsuit against Oculus VR as a company and its Founder, Palmer Luckey, claiming that they have illegally misappropriated trade secrets that are linked to virtual reality technology.
The two entities also claim that copyright and trademarks have been violated and that the named defendants have breached contract, enriched themselves unjustly and launched unfair competition initiatives.
The lawsuit from ZeniMax Media was filed in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Texas and AllGamesBeta has a copy of the actual documents for those who are interested in exploring them.
The company claims, “The suit arises from the defendants’ unlawful exploitation of intellectual property, including trade secrets, copyrighted computer code, and technical know-how relating to virtual reality technology that was developed by ZeniMax after years of research and investment.”
ZeniMax says that it has created the intellectual property that has driven the development of the Oculus Rift virtual reality technology since its inception, but the company has refused all attempts to mediate and deliver a suitable compensation package.
The lawsuit also states that, “Oculus has recently issued a public statement remarkably claiming that ‘ZeniMax has never contributed IP or technology to Oculus’. Meanwhile, Luckey has held himself out to the public as the visionary developer of virtual reality technology, when in fact the key technology Luckey used to establish Oculus was developed by ZeniMax.”
Robert Altman, the chairman and the chief executive officer of ZeniMax, says that intellectual property is crucial for his company and that it can no longer ignore the breach coming from Oculus.
Anthony Sammi, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the law firm that represents ZeniMax in the lawsuit, says that all avenues will be used to make sure that the breach of intellectual property is resolved as soon as possible.
The entire legal action might be linked to John Carmack, who was employed by id Software and who has also worked for Oculus Rift.
It’s unclear what effect a successful lawsuit can have on the two companies and how it will influence the future of virtual reality as a technology.
The Oculus Rift headset has been seen by many players and analysts as the future of gaming on the PC and problems for the company developing it might mean that it never gets a full commercial release.