Light & Wonder Secures Legal Victory Against Aristocrat in Australia Despite US Loss

Light & Wonder has secured a legal victory against Aristocrat in Australia, leading to a spike in its share price. Despite achieving a significant victory against L&W in America, Aristocrat failed to replicate this success in its home market.

Light & Wonder’s Shares Soared as It Won in Court

The lawsuit in question concerned the Dragon Train case. For context, Aristocrat had accused its rival of engaging in intellectual property theft when developing the title in question. The Australian gaming company noticed stark similarities between Dragon Train and its Dragon Link series, which were only made more suspicious by the fact that the same people who worked on the former had also worked on the latter.

As a result, Aristocrat applied for interlocutory relief in Australia. Unfortunately for the company, it was denied an injunction by the Federal Court of Australia. The court said that its reasons for judgement will not be disclosed to or published by anyone but the court staff, the participants in the trial, and the participants’ representatives.

Aristocrat’s loss was Light & Wonder’s gain as its shares increased by 11% following the ruling. The company stock is currently worth $97.67 apiece.

Financial firm Macquarie noted that the ruling was a relief to L&W’s investors who were worried about the 10,000 Dragon Train machines that had been sold in Australia.

In the meantime, Aristocrat representatives told GGR Asia that the company has noted the ruling. Nevertheless, the company said that it will continue to pursue its substantive case against its competitor in both Australia and the US.

Aristocrat emphasized that it will continue to seek all possible ways to protect its intellectual property.

Light & Wonder Lost the Lawsuit in America

As mentioned, Light & Wonder was not so lucky in the US where the court sided with Aristocrat, agreeing that the former party misappropriated trade secrets and engaged in intellectual property theft.

As a result, Light & Wonder was forced to cease offering Dragon Train games and replace them with other machines. In October, the company confirmed that it is working on a new version of the Dragon Train game that does not violate Aristocrat’s intellectual property.

In the meantime, Aristocrat also settled an intellectual property lawsuit in Australia relating to a former employee who was named in the Dragon Train lawsuit. Dinh Toan Tran, a former long-term employee, agreed pay financial compensation to Aristocrat, resulting in a positive income for the business.

L&W Expands US Footprint, Appoints New CEO

In other news, Light & Wonder teamed up with PENN Entertainment and agreed to deploy its cutting-edge products across the Hollywood Casino brand in Michigan. The integration powered the gaming brand with opportunities to win progressive or fixed cash prizes via any of Light & Wonder’s games available listed on the website.

This came shortly after the appointment of Simon Johnson, a company insider, as its new chief executive officer of the iGaming division.