Scientific Games sues over online lottery games

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

Scientific Games Corp., the world's biggest supplier of instant lottery tickets, said it filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Gtech Holdings Inc. over online lottery games that have an optional bonus wager.

Scientific Games claims that Gtech infringes on two Scientific Games patents in services it provides for Rhode Island Lottery's Powerball Power Play and Keno Plus games. West Greenwich, R.I.-based Gtech controls about 72 percent of the market for online lottery systems, according to Scientific Games' annual report.

"They've tried to compete with us in the systems market but not gained a lot of traction in the larger jurisdictions," said Robert Vincent, a spokesman for New York-based Gtech, in an interview. "We are strongly of the belief there is not a legitimate patent-infringement claim and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter."

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