Global gaming supplier Light & Wonder will pay US$127.5 million to industry rival Aristocrat Leisure Limited as part of a settlement agreement related to Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train slot machine series.
The two companies issued a joint statement early Monday morning (Asia time) in which they revealed they have agreed to settle pending litigation in Australia and the United States brought by Aristocrat following the launch of Dragon Train in 2023, which Aristocrat contends was developed using its own trade secrets and copyright works. Aristocrat also made similar claims against Light & Wonder’s Jewel of the Dragon series.
In respective ASX filings, the companies said the US$127.5 million in compensation was in respect of the claims for misappropriation and infringement of Aristocrat’s intellectual property, with Light & Wonder acknowledging that certain Aristocrat math information was used in connection with the development of both Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon.
As such, Light & Wonder has agreed to permanently cease commercialization of these games globally and to make best efforts to remove existing installations. It has also agreed not to make any further use of the Aristocrat math information and copyright works at issue in the litigation and to permanently destroy all documents reflecting that information.
The two parties added that they have reached confidential procedures for identifying and resolving any issues concerning the use of Aristocrat math in connection with certain existing Light & Wonder hold and spin games and certain hold and spin games now in development, including games for which Light & Wonder was ordered to produce math models to Aristocrat in the United States litigation.
Aristocrat’s claims against Light & Wonder in Australia and the United States will subsequently be dismissed.
“Aristocrat welcomes fair competition but will always robustly defend and enforce its intellectual property rights,” said Aristocrat CEO and Managing Director, Trevor Croker. “As an ideas and innovation company, our intellectual property is vital to our ongoing success. We are committed to protecting the great work of our dedicated creative and technical teams.
“We welcome this positive outcome, which includes significant financial compensation and follows the decisive action we took to ensure the preservation of Aristocrat’s valuable intellectual property assets. This decisive action included securing a preliminary injunction in September 2024, at which time the court recognised that Light & Wonder was able to develop Dragon Train by using Aristocrat’s valuable trade secrets and without investing the equivalent time and money.”
Light & Wonder CEO Matt Wilson added, “Light & Wonder is pleased to resolve this matter and move forward. We are firmly committed to doing business the right way – respecting our competitors’ intellectual property rights while protecting our own rights. This matter arose when a former employee inappropriately used certain Aristocrat math without our knowledge and in direct violation of our policies. Upon discovery, we took immediate action and have since implemented strengthened processes aimed at preventing similar issues in the future.
“This settlement protects the interests of our customers, employees and shareholders, and allows us to continue our focus on developing am delivering the market-leading content our customers expect without distraction or disruption.”
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