Judge dismisses lawsuit

Monday, June 2, 2003 | 10:02 a.m.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Bally Gaming Inc. that was aimed at blocking potential legal action by International Game Technology of Reno and its subsidiary, Anchor Gaming, over several gaming patents.

Bally, a unit of Alliance Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas, said it filed the lawsuit as a pre-emptive strike against the defendants' alleged threat to sue. Bally said it had been wrongfully accused by the defendants of infringing several IGT gaming patents in its Thrillions multi-area progressive slot system and Monte Carlo progressive jackpot slot machine.

But the defendants disputed the allegations, saying Bally has "no objectively reasonable apprehension" of being sued by IGT.

"With respect to the Monte Carlo game, it would have been ridiculous for IGT to file a lawsuit at that time given that the product was not on the market, (and) changes were being made to the product ... thus there was no way for IGT to know what features the final product would possess," the defendants said in court documents.

Instead, the defendants accused Bally of using "the threat of a declaratory judgment suit to improve its posture in negotiations with a competitor, as well as to interfere in that competitor's licensing negotiations with others."

U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt dismissed Bally's claims in a May 16 ruling.