Bingo supplier loses patent case against GameTech

Alana Roberts

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

A Las Vegas federal judge has ruled in favor of Reno-based bingo equipment supplier GameTech International Inc. in a three-year patent infringement lawsuit filed by competitor Planet Bingo.

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro ruled May 25 that GameTech, two former GameTech founders and a former employee did not violate two patents Planet Bingo is licensed to use in regarding the use of color in bingo products.

Planet Bingo leaders said they would appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Planet Bingo alleged GameTech International officials marketed devices that featured the patented ideas at trade shows. The company never sold any products using the patents, Claude Stern, a GameTech lawyer said. Pro's decision limits the scope of the patents, and specifies that GameTech's actions didn't violate those patents.

"This is an example where there was simply no basis at all for one company threatening another company," Stern said. "What is really going on here was that Planet Bingo was arguing that they have the right to exclude anybody that tries to use color in a bingo game, even if that use doesn't involve colored balls or a colored flashboard."

The patents include the use of color on bingo balls and color on bingo flashboards used at bingo halls, Stern said.

However Jeff Weiss, a lawyer for Rancho Mirage-based Planet Bingo, said the company disputes Pro's decision and the company believes the patents aren't limited to any product.

"What was patented was a method, a way of playing this game," Weiss said. "It wasn't a particular device or machine. We respectfully disagree with the interpretation these claims were given."

He said the company expects a year-long wait for a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.