Aristocrat has announced the resolution of its high-profile litigation with Light & Wonder, bringing an end to disputes in both Australia and the US concerning the alleged misuse of proprietary intellectual property.
In a joint statement released on 12 January, the companies confirmed that Light & Wonder will pay Aristocrat $127.5m, equal to approximately AU$190m, as part of the settlement. Aristocrat had claimed that Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train and later Jewel of the Dragon were developed using confidential trade secrets and copyright works.
As part of the agreement, Light & Wonder has acknowledged that certain Aristocrat mathematical information was used in the development of the contested titles. The company will permanently cease commercialisation of both games worldwide and undertake best efforts to remove existing installations from the market. It will also destroy documents containing the disputed information and commit to avoiding any further use of the materials in question.
The settlement introduces confidential procedures allowing the parties to address any concerns relating to the use of Aristocrat math in other Light & Wonder hold-and-spin titles, including games under development. Aristocrat’s legal claims in both jurisdictions will now be dismissed.
Aristocrat CEO and Managing Director, Trevor Croker said:
“Aristocrat welcomes fair competition but will always robustly defend and enforce its intellectual property rights. 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 said:
“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 and delivering the market-leading content our customers expect—without distraction or disruption.”
Both companies highlighted the importance of intellectual property protection in supporting fair competition within the gaming industry.
Aristocrat had secured a preliminary injunction in 2024 that restricted the distribution of Dragon Train during proceedings
