Aristocrat Claims Ainsworth Copyright Breach
Casino games development giant Aristocrat Technology remains adamant about the fact that rival casino games developer Ainsworth Game Technology has infringed on international copyright laws by having copied the design of one of their most successful games to date. Aristocrat has instituted legal action against Ainsworth in an Australian Federal court following the latter’s denial of the allegations. The latest spat involves the brand’s Lightning Link machine.
Aristocrat has based its litigation and claims on the allegation that Ainsworth has stolen some important key concepts and elements employed throughout the back-end code and tech that is its proprietary Lightning Link game. The machine is one of their flagship products and last year won the award for Land-based Product of the Year at last year’s Global Gaming Awards. It has been installed in casinos all over the world and is one of the brand’s proudest creations.
More Than Just A Copy
Aristocrat has said that the decision to seek relief from Australia’s justice system was made because of the fact that the dispute goes far beyond the mere copying of a good idea. There are issues of copyright infringement, the unlawful sharing of top trade secrets and also gross misappropriation of intellectual property rights and confidential information at play.
Aristocrat said that it was important for the company to uphold a spirit of trust and professionalism within the industry and that what Ainsworth had done, and was in all likelihood still doing, was to destroy everything that upstanding members of the international business community had worked so hard to achieve.
The Origins Of The Dispute
The two companies have been at each other’s throats since last year and the Lightning Link dispute originated from Aristocrat’s request that Ainsworth reveal the exact source code and design mechanisms employed in the creation of the latter’s Jackpot Strike machine.
They also demanded to see all of the artwork, commercial documents and game rules associated with Jackpot Strike. The company is convinced that its own Lightning Link source code and game rules were directly copied and adapted in the making of Jackpot Strike. The allegation is that Ainsworth had basically used Aristocrat’s idea and tech in its entirety, and merely gave the game a few minor tweaks and a new name.
Ainsworth has since said that it strongly denies all allegations and that it plans to defend itself by making use of every legal remedy possible.