After having been awarded $500 million in a lawsuit against Facebook, ZeniMax Media is now looking to get some additional compensation from Samsung. The company, which owns the "Elder Scrolls" publisher Bethesda, is now looking to go after Samsung, who allegedly benefitted from the technology that was "stolen" from them by Oculus.
Alleged espionage
The previous lawsuit against Facebook claims that John Carmack, a former employee, had secretly leaked some of their VR technology to Oculus. Carmack, who is the co-founder of id Software, allegedly developed an "attack plan" for mobile VR using the technology that was developed at ZeniMax.
Carmack and the other Oculus executives have outright denied all the accusations and explained that they actually have written new codes after leaving ZeniMax.
Samsung's part in the issue
Samsung's Gear VR headset was developed in partnership with Oculus and Zenimax claims that Samsung may have had prior knowledge of the circumstances but chose to proceed anyway. During the headset's development, Zenimax already had an active lawsuit against Oculus.
The company took this negligence as a clear sign that Samsung must have been aware of the suit but "continued to develop the Gear VR with full knowledge of ZeniMax's allegations." ZeniMax points out that Samsung should have obtained permission from them before using any of their copyrighted technology.
According to the new lawsuit, the code used in Samsung's Gear VR headset and software is a direct infringement of Zenimax' copyright. Aside from the infringement allegations, Samsung is also being accused of practicing "unfair competition," "trade secret misappropriation," and "unjust enrichment."
What goes around comes around
Following the awarding of the $500 million judgment, Carmack has also now launched his own lawsuit against ZeniMax.
The lawsuit is seeking $22.5 million in compensation. Carmack is currently responsible for paying $50 million of the half-billion award to Zenimax. Oculus' co-founder, Palmer Luckey is responsible for paying $50 million, while former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe owes $150 million for trademark infringement. Facebook will be taking the bulk of the damage and has been ordered to pay $250 million.
As for the new Samsung lawsuit, it hasn't been confirmed yet how much the possible damages could cost if the company is found guilty. The recent ZeniMax win against Facebook could also have an effect on the new lawsuit, but that still remains to be seen.
