Mikohn, partner in litigation over blackjack device

Grace Leong

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 10:32 a.m.

Las Vegas-based casino supplier Mikohn Gaming Corp. sued to stop Safegames Inc., a Las Vegas gaming control system developer, and its two European shareholders from marketing a device called "Safe Jack" in the United States.

Mikohn said it had paid more than $3.3 million in advance royalties for the exclusive marketing rights to Safe Jack, a computerized system that controls blackjack games. The defendants allegedly own the patents and trademark rights to the device.

Mikohn sued Safegames, Viktor Mayer, a resident of Austria, and Michail Order, a resident of Germany, in Clark County District Court last week in a preemptive strike after the defendants notified Mikohn on Oct. 10 of their intention to recover at least $24 million in damages from Mikohn, which they accused of treating the Safe Jack device with "ignorance, negligence and incompetence."

In an Oct. 10 letter to Mikohn, the defendants wrote: "It should be sufficient evidence, that more than six years after we initially transferred the intellectual property, Mikohn is not in the position to deliver a single piece of 'the device' and has lost our updates and source codes. This behavior has shortened our royalties and the value of 'the device' significantly."

"Mikohn has manufactured in the year 1997, 10 pieces of 'the device,' one (piece) in 1998 and zero (pieces) in 1999 and 2000. In 2001 Mikohn is not capable to manufacture even a single piece," the defendants wrote. "We claim damage to us and our intellectual property ... in the value of at least $24 million. We do not have any problem to grant you 60 days to cure that claim."

But Mikohn, in its lawsuit, accused the defendants of violating the agreement by terminating the contract allegedly without justification after receiving the royalties and by allegedly marketing the device themselves in the United States.

The defendants could not be reached for comment on Mikohn's allegations.