Vetnos LLC has filed a lawsuit against PrizePicks claiming the company stole its proprietary technology. Vetnos, which is based in New York City, is a B2B fantasy sports provider.
They claimed in the lawsuit, filed June 20, that Prize Picks infringed on its patent for its player prop-style, over/under fantasy sports games. They are seeking lost profits, royalties, and additional monetary damages. They also allege PrizePicks jeopardized trade secrets from a former employee.
Jason Barclay, chief legal officer and head of public policy at PrizePicks said in a statement that the lawsuit was without merit.
“After years of trying unsuccessfully to get us to buy its technology and intellectual property, Vetnos has now apparently resorted to a frivolous lawsuit to change our minds,” Barclay said. “That is not a good business or legal strategy. We intend to aggressively defend against this lawsuit and point out its many errors and outright falsehoods.”
PrizePicks is legal in 30 states and is in several states that don’t offer sports betting, such as California and Oklahoma. Vetnos claimed in the lawsuit that those are key markets for the company and that PrizePicks was taking away business using their software.
Vetnos co-founder Dan Orlow said they tried for years to work with PrizePicks CEO Adam Wexler, including a meeting that reportedly took place at the SBC Summit in New Jersey in 2021.
“We apprised PrizePicks of our concerns for several years in an effort to resolve this matter amicably, but unfortunately PrizePicks refused to respect our IP rights, so we were left with no option but to seek help from the court system,” Orlow said.
In the complaint, Vetnos alleges that Wexler said, “We liked your game so much, we decided to copy it.”
Also included in the lawsuit is the allegation that a former employee at Vetnos copied the technology and gave the information to PrizePicks.
“By copying the Vetnos Technology, PrizePicks was able to launch a fixed-odds daily fantasy sports game and learn to effectively manage the risk associated with offering such a game without engaging in the significant trial, error, and loss that Vetnos’ predecessor engaged in to develop the Vetnos Technology,” the complaint says.
That is in violation of a non-disclosure agreement the former employee signed.
The deadline for PrizePicks to respond to the lawsuit is July 11.
