14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook’s Oculus has been cleared of charges of stealing trade secrets from ZeniMax, but still, has to pay a total of $500 million after the jury rules in a lawsuit filed three years ago.
Oculus was purchased by Facebook back in 2014 for $2 billion, and it has found quite a bit of success. Now, they will have to pay quite a large sum after a court has decided that Oculus has been using technology developed by ZeniMax, an American video game company.
Facebook is already planning to appeal the decision after the jury found Oculus guilty of copyright infringement. The jury said that Oculus co-founders broke a non-disclosure agreement and misused trademarks. Oculus was found not guilty, however, of stealing trade secrets from ZeniMax.
“The heart of this case was about whether Oculus stole ZeniMax’s trade secrets, and the jury found decisively in our favor,” said a Facebook spokesman. They intend to appeal the decision and put the litigation behind them.
Splitting the bill
Out of the $500 million, Oculus has to pay $200 million for breaking the Non-disclosure agreement and $50 million for copyright infringement. Oculus co-founders will also have to pay quite a hefty sum. The company and Palmer Luckey will each have to pay $50 million for false designation and Brendan Iribe an extra $150 million.
Even if this sum seems large, it’s nothing compared to what ZeniMax was seeking to gain - $2 billion in compensation and $2 billion in damages, which is pretty much what Facebook paid for Oculus altogether.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oculus creators Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe testified in the case and will probably have to appear again in court during the appeal. Their hope is that they will be cleared of all charges.