Oculus Loses Lawsuit To ZeniMax, Ordered To Pay $500 Million

When the Oculus Rift burst onto the scene, many were enthralled by it and the potential it held, but it did not take long for the headset to land itself in some controversy. This came in the form of an accusation by ZeniMax who alleged that Oculus had “misappropriated ZeniMax trade secrets”.

This eventually resulted in a lawsuit in which it seems that Facebook-owned Oculus is walking away the loser in this battle. This is because a Dallas, Texas jury found in favor of ZeniMax which resulted in a ruling that Oculus must now pay the company $500 million in damages, Breaking this down, Oculus has to pay $200 million for breaking the NDA and an additional $50 million for copyright infringement.

They are also expected to pay $50 million for false designation. Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey is also expected to pay $50 million for false designation, while Brendan Iribe, also the co-founder of Oculus, will have to fork out $150 million. Unsurprisingly Oculus plans to appeal the ruling.

In a statement provided to Polygon, a spokesperson said, “We’re obviously disappointed by a few other aspects of today’s verdict, but we are undeterred. Oculus products are built with Oculus technology. Our commitment to the long-term success of VR remains the same, and the entire team will continue the work they’ve done since day one – developing VR technology that will transform the way people interact and communicate.”

As for ZeniMax, they plan to pursue this further by seeking a temporary injunction on the Oculus Rift headsets.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Legal, oculus, Oculus Rift, Virtual Reality (VR)