A trial that could have serious repercussions for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and its Oculus Rift has started in Dallas. Video game firm ZeniMax is suing the company, accusing it of stealing some of its technology and formulating a fake story on how the device was created.
ZeniMax Lawsuit
ZeniMax in its lawsuit alleges that one of its employees created the technology in use on Oculus Rift. The software company says that its employee, John Carmack, began speaking with Oculus founder Palmer Luckey in 2012 while he was working on a ‘Primitive virtual reality headset’ dubbed the Rift.
The Primitive headset according to ZeniMax at the time lacked a head mount, virtual reality software, as well as other critical features prior to Mr. Carmack sharing his ideas. The company alleges that it is Carmack, who transformed the initial Rift into a powerful immersive virtual reality headset, thus all credit should go to the company.
ZeniMax has also sued Luckey of sharing widely a false story claiming that he invented the Rift technology in his parent’s garage while the same was not the case
ZeniMax accuses Facebook of acquiring Oculus while knowing very well that its hardware and software were stolen from it. The tech giant has already refuted the claims reiterating the ZeniMax story is false.
“We’re going to call many live witnesses, Mr. Zuckerberg included, “said ZeniMax’s lawyer, Tony Sammi.
Facebook’s Defense
ZeniMax is seeking $2 billion in damages in its lawsuit. Facebook in its defense argues that ZeniMax made no claim that it owned the technology for Oculus Rift in an August 2015 filing. The lawsuit, which is now underway in a District Court in Texas, is expected to last three weeks.
The filing of the lawsuit comes at a time of increased concerns that Facebook is slowly eroding the Oculus brand. While the company boasts a recognizable brand on social networking, the same has not been the case with the Oculus VR headsets given that there are very few people that have knowledge of the brand or what it does .
Facebook stock was down by $0.55 in Tuesday trading session ending the day at lows of $124.35 a share.
