In May of 2014 ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary company id Software filed a lawsuit against Oculus VR, its founder Palmer Luckey and Facebook claiming that the Oculus Rift headset was founded on illegally misappropriating ZeniMax trade secrets relating to virtual reality technology, and infringed ZeniMax copyrights and trademarks.
Oculus and Facebook publically refuted ZeniMax's claims, but that didn't stop the trial.
Since the official lawsuit, Oculus VR, Luckey and Facebook have requested for the case to be dismissed. The presiding judge on the case has denied the motion and will push for a 2016 trial to settle the dispute.
ZeniMax claims that the co-founder and former Chief Technical Operator of id Software revealed information to Luckey that was under a Non-Disclosure Act. According to ZeniMax, Luckey took the company's years of pricey research to create the Oculus Rift. On top of that, Oculus began stealing away ZeniMax employees instead of coming to the amicable agreement that ZeniMax requested.
Essentially:
- ZeniMax says the Oculus Rift is built off of stolen research.
- Oculus VR, Luckey and Facebook don't want this publicity and file for case dismissal.
- Judge said no.
All participants in the case have until February 2016 to supply or find evidence to prove or disprove the case and the preliminary trial will begin on August 1st, 2016.
