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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Oculus seeks partial new trial against video game maker ZeniMax after $500 million award

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DALLAS – The battle continues in a high-profile case in Texas as Facebook Inc. subsidiary Oculus engaged in post-trial motions recently before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade arguing no evidence proves the jury’s finding that resulted in a $500 million award to video game maker ZeniMax Media Inc.

ZeniMax Media won the $500 million award after a jury found on Feb. 1 that Oculus had conducted in false designation of origin, copyright and trademark infringement or breach of nondisclosure agreement. 

ZeniMax Media also presented arguments to Kinkeade in the post-trial motions claiming it deserves an injunction that would discontinue Oculus products from being sold and said it should receive damages of around $1 billion.

In May, following the jury’s verdict, Oculus asked for sanctions on ZeniMax for allegedly misleading the court on evidence about copyright infringement by neglecting to disclose 1,300 pages of documents in a timely manner. Oculus’ attorneys claimed the late release of those record negatively impacted the defense.

“After four successful motions to compel, defendants have finally obtained a sizeable production of plaintiff's valuation documents,” Oculus’ motion for sanction said. “But that production came three months after trial. We now know that plaintiffs withheld at least 72 relevant, pre-existing documents—totaling more than 1,300 pages—in violation of prior compulsion orders.” 

In Oculus’ motion for sanction, it also called for partial retrial stating it was unfair to let the judgment stand that was based on missing information. 

“It is now clear that plaintiffs had not then (and still have not) produced all the responsive records, and that they misrepresented the completeness of their productions to the court and to defendants during trial,” the motion said. 

Oculus claimed the only remedy is a partial new trial of the claim affected by plaintiff’s failure to inform defendant about a missing document. 

Attorneys for ZeniMax were not able to be reached for comment. 

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