Yesterday we announced that the ZeniMax Media v. Oculus VR trial had officially begun in Dallas, TX. For those unaware, the court case is regarding the fact that ZeniMax claims that the Rift was created with the use of stolen technology from ZeniMax employees, such as John Carmack, as well as calling into question the assistance he provided to Palmer Luckey and the Oculus team while he was still employed by ZeniMax. After leaving ZeniMax and id Software, the game development studio he co-founded, he joined Oculus as CTO in 2013.
Today, an Oculus spokesperson issued this official statement to Upload via email:
“We’re eager to present our case in court. Oculus and its founders have invested a wealth of time and money in VR because we believe it can fundamentally transform the way people interact and communicate. We’re disappointed that another company is using wasteful litigation to attempt to take credit for technology that it did not have the vision, expertise, or patience to build.”
These are particularly pointed words that make it clear which stance the VR company is taking. The lawsuit from ZeniMax alleges strong claims such as theft of intellectual property and it will be telling to see how the case turns out. The lawsuit is reportedly worth $2 billion and was filed shortly after Facebook acquired Oculus for approximately the same amount in 2014.
Based on this statement, Oculus appears to be taking a stance of deniability. The trial is planned to last approximately three weeks in Dallas and live witnesses, including Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to be called. UploadVR has a Dallas-area correspondent that should be able to provide reports on what’s happening throughout the trial.
Do you have any questions about this lawsuit? What would you ask the parties involved if you could ask them anything? Let us know in the comments below!
