Macau’s Court of Second Instance has dismissed an appeal from SHFL Entertainment (Asia) Ltd., which sought an injunction against Paradise Entertainment Ltd. and subsidiary LT Games’ assertions of excusive rights to multi-player hybrid table games in Macau.
SHFL Asia, now a unit of slot and table supplier Bally Technologies, has been involved in a protracted legal battle with LT Games, which has gotten injunctions causing SHFL to cover its Rapid Baccarat and other gaming tables at trade shows including G2E Asia, alleging patent infringement.
In July 2013, the Court of First Instance acquitted SHFL Asia from any wrongdoing, but said it could not decide with certainty whether the components of the Rapid Baccarat product had functions, technical methods and results identical to the ones patented by LT Games. LT Games has appealed that decision.
The latest injunction, filed with the city’s Court of First Instance in October 2012, sought to prevent Paradise Entertainment and its subsidiaries from claiming monopoly rights over multi-player electronic table game products in Macau and to restrain them from any unfair competition.
The lawsuit named Paradise Entertainment and its units LT Game Ltd. and Natural Noble Ltd. as well as Jay Chun, Paradise Entertainment’s chairman and executive director, collectively the holders of two Macau patents for gaming equipment.
The lower court dismissed the injunction in November 2013 and now the Court of Second Instance has confirmed that decision, turning down SHFL Asia’s appeal.
In the decision, the judges said it was not proven that Paradise Entertainment or its subsidiaries had claimed monopoly rights over the multi-player system in Macau or that they infringed any rights of SHFL Asia.
