A federal judge in Chicago has rejected the request of Scientific Games to dismiss the final remaining count in the antitrust lawsuit filed by Shuffle Tech International LLC over card-shuffling technology.
Shuffle Tech, which five years ago developed and launched an automatic single-deck card-shuffling device called Deckmate 1 in partnership with DigiDeal Corp., claims Scientific Games is misusing its Shuffle Master patents to stifle competition in violation of antitrust laws.
Scientific games filed suit against DigiDeal after the latter demonstrated the Deckmate 1 device at the Global Gaming Expo in 2012. Shuffle Tech filed the counter-suite against Scientific Games in 2015, charging violations of the Sherman and Clayton anti-trust laws and accusing the dominant supplier of “deceptive trade practices.”
The U.S. District Court in Chicago dismissed several counts of Shuffle Tech’s lawsuit, including violation of the antitrust laws, but is allowing Shuffle Tech to continue with the count accusing Scientific Games of using patents and litigation to eliminate competition.
“(The) plaintiffs have provided sufficient evidence to support a finding that (Scientific Games) acted with fraudulent intent,” Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said in the opinion.
