Macau’s Paradise Entertainment Limited has confirmed it will appeal a judgement issued by the Macau Judicial Court of First Instance dismissing the patent claims lodged by the group’s subsidiaries, including LT Game Limited, against subsidiaries of Light & Wonder.
As first reported by IAG on Monday, the court found that LT Game – which sought to impose patent rights over two of its ETG inventions – had failed to satisfy patent requirements against the defendants because the inventions underlying the patents were deemed obvious to a professional in the field and lacked a sufficient inventive step. As such, the patents did not meet the legal requirements for protection under Macau’s Industrial Property Legal Regime (RJLP).
In response, LT Game said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon that it “disagrees with the rationale provided in the Judgment and [has] immediately launched an appeal based on legal advice from our lawyers.”
The company added, “In the Judgment, the Court determined that our two Macau-registered patents, despite having successfully completed all required legal formalities and scrutiny by the relevant patent authorities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, did not meet the necessary legal requirements and were therefore declared null and void.
“We firmly believe that protecting intellectual property rights is essential for fostering innovation, securing business development and instilling confidence in our clients and society regarding the reliability and uniqueness of our innovative products. While we respect the judicial process, we strongly disagree with this decision and remain committed to defending our intellectual property rights.”
Legal issues between LT Game and Light & Wonder subsidiary Shuffle Master date back to 2009, although this particular case was first filed in 2012.
The claim relates to two specific patents: I/150 relating to “Method and system for playing the baccarat jackpot” and I/380 relating to “Gaming terminal and system”. LT Game has long argued that Shuffle Master entities infringed those patents through certain gaming machines, including “Rapid Baccarat” and “Rapid Table Game”, and that its patents effectively give the company a monopoly over the live dealer market for any multi-game terminals throughout Macau. Its lawsuit against Shuffle Master requested injunctions, removal of infringing equipment, termination of contracts, damages and public disclosures in relation to the alleged infringements.
The court’s recent ruling dismissed all claims by LT Game, declared the patents null and void, cancelled their registration and prohibited the plaintiffs from using terms referring to the patents under Article 107 of the RJPI.
Shuffle Master, by then known as Shuffle Entertainment Inc, was acquired by Bally Technologies in 2013 which was in turn acquired by Scientific Games in 2014. The gaming arm of Scientific Games changed its name to Light & Wonder in 2022 after spinning off its lottery and sports betting arms.
In announcing that it would appeal this recent decision, LT Game said its lawyers had advised against making any further commentary on the specifics of the case but insisted the company remains “confident in the validity of our patents and the innovative contributions they represent to the gaming industry”.
