The Supreme Court of Nebraska has upheld a $2.99 million settlement granted to California-based software developer Planet Bingo in its lawsuit against Omaha manufacturer Video King, although Video King won a separate $558,405 judgment against Planet Bingo that will reduce the main settlement amount.
The lawsuit alleged that Video King violated prior agreements with Planet Bingo and its sister company Melange Computer Services in developing the OMNI Bingo Hall Management System. The prior agreements had allowed Video King access to Planet Bingo’s EPIC Bingo Hall Management System technology under terms of confidentiality that had prohibited Video King from misusing or infringing Planet Bingo’s software.
A lower-court jury determined that Video King had breached the contract by reverse-engineering the EPIC system to create the OMNI system, which competed with EPIC. The high court upheld the verdict.
“Protecting our intellectual property is critical to the growth and continued success of our business,” said Planet Bingo Vice President of Operations David Forman in a statement. “We are pleased that the Douglas County jury recognized the importance of our innovations and intellectual property and held Video King liable for violating its agreements and undermining our intellectual property interests.”
While “ultimately not satisfied with the monetary result of this litigation,” in a press release Video King noted that “this litigation did not result in any restriction, restraint or other impairment upon the use of Video King’s intellectual property.”
