The Supreme Court of Nebraska has confirmed that Video Kings (VKGS LLC) must pay Planet Bingo a settlement of $2.99 million for breaches of contracts and a software licensing agreement following an earlier District Court ruling.
The lawsuit was originally filed in the District Court of Douglas County, Nebraska and alleged that gaming developer Video Kings had misused confidential information which was in direct violation of a contract with Planet Bingo and Melange — a company that Planet Bingo had acquired during the term of its contract with Video Kings.
The lawsuit alleged that while Video Kings had been given permission to access to Planet Bingo’s EPIC Bingo Hall Management System, the developer used this access to the software to create its own OMNI Bingo Hall Management System, effectively stealing the technology and ideation behind Planet Bingo’s own system.
A jury heard arguments from both sides before deliberating and determining that Video King had reverse engineered the EPIC system to create their own software. The jury agreed that this was in direct violation of its agreement with Planet Bingo and, as a result, decided to award Planet Bingo $2.99 million in damages.
The decision was then appealed by Video Kings in the Nebraska Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court upheld the District Court’s decision.
Speaking following the ruling, Dave Forman of Planet Bingo said:
“Planet Bingo has always been at the forefront of new technologies and developments within the Bingo gaming industry. Protecting our intellectual property is critical to the growth and continued success of our business. We are pleased that the Douglas County jury recognized the importance of our innovations and intellectual property and held Video King liable for violating its agreements and undermining our intellectual property interests.”
The Supreme Court opinion brings to a close a long litigation process that first came to court in 2018.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.