Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train Wins in Australia

Despite a U.S. injunction in response to an intellectual property violation charge by Aristocrat, Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train will remain on the floors of Australian casinos after a court rejected the proposed injunction.

A Nevada court granted Aristocrat the U.S. injunction, finding Dragon Train was “extremely likely to succeed in demonstrating Light & Wonder misappropriated Aristocrat’s trade secrets in development of Dragon Train.” That ruling resulted in Light & Wonder temporarily removing thousands of Dragon Train machines from casinos in the U.S. and prohibiting sales and leasing of the game.

In Australia, the Federal Court refused to issue an injunction but declined to publish the reasons for that denial until further notice. Because of this ruling, casinos in Australia need to take no action, and Light & Wonder can continue to promote the game and all the other games in its pipeline. It’s estimated that there are more than 10,000 Dragon Train games in place in Australia.

Aristocrat challenged the Light & Wonder game, charging the company with misappropriating its intellectual property, imitating copyrighted audio-visual elements, copying game mechanics and game play, copyright infringement and deceptive trade practices. It also pointed to the large number of former Aristocrat executives now working for Light & Wonder, including CEO Matt Wilson.

Light & Wonder shares rose at least 10 percent on news of the failed injunction.