Light & Wonder and Aristocrat Leisure have agreed to settle their pending litigation in Australia and the US regarding Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train game and its Jewel of the Dragon title.
Lawsuits were previously filed by Aristocrat – first against Dragon Train in 2024, followed by Jewel of the Dragon last year – arguing that both titles were developed by Light & Wonder using trade secrets and copyright works from its operations.
However, one of the most intriguing storylines in the iGaming industry in the past few years appears to have come to an end, as in a joint statement, Light & Wonder has agreed to a $127.5m (approximately AUD $190m) settlement with Aristocrat in respect of misappropriation and infringement claims of its intellectual property.
‘Committed to doing business the right way’
While the specifics of the settlement’s terms will remain confidential, Light & Wonder has acknowledged that certain Aristocrat math information “was used in connection with the development of both Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon”.
As such, the supplier will “permanently cease commercialisation of these games globally” and will “make best efforts to remove existing installations”.
Matt Wilson, CEO of Light & Wonder, stated: “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.”
In addition, Light & Wonder will not “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 have also agreed to confidential procedures to resolve 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 titles for which Light & Wonder was ordered to produce math models for Aristocrat in the US litigation.
Wilson added: “This settlement protects the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders, and allows us to continue our focus on developing and delivering the market-leading content our customers expect—without distraction or disruption.”
Robustly defend and enforce intellectual property rights
“Aristocrat welcomes fair competition but will always robustly defend and enforce its intellectual property rights,” noted Trevor Croker, CEO and Managing Director of Aristocrat.
“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.”
With the settlement, Aristocrat’s claims against Light & Wonder in Australia and the US will be dismissed. Both parties also recognised the importance of protecting valuable and proprietary assets that see significant investment and innovation to ensure fair competition.
Croker continued: “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.”