IGT wins legal round against Silicon Gaming

Monday, March 22, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

Silicon and IGT are battling each other over patent rights to multi-hand video poker, one of the most popular machine games in Nevada.

Silicon, the struggling slot maker that developed the Odyssey game platform, initially sued IGT last month in federal court in California.

Silicon's lawsuit sought a ruling that the patent for Triple Play Poker, a game designed by Ernie Moody of Action Gaming, was invalid. Moody sold his rights to the game to IGT and receives a royalty of $15 per machine per day from casinos offering Triple Play Poker to their customers.

Silicon said it had filed its lawsuit due to the threat of litigation by IGT. In response, IGT sued in federal court in Nevada, alleging Silicon's new Multi-Draw Poker infringes on the Triple Play patent.

The temporary restraining order bars Silicon from distributing any more of its Multi-Draw Poker games pending a final ruling in the lawsuit. The order doesn't affect the games currently in place.

"We believe that our product is a unique and valid competitive offering and that it does not infringe on IGT's intellectual property rights. We will continue to pursue our right to keep this product on the market and to ensure that our customers have an alternative to IGT's game," Silicon Chief Executive Andrew Pascal said.