ZeniMax Media, the long time publishers of both the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series, will be allowed to continue their lawsuit again both Facebook and Oculus, which alleges secrets were stolen.
United States district court judge Jorge A. Solis has dismissed the motion by Oculus and its parent company Facebook to have the allegations made by ZeniMax Media thrown out, and so the court case will continue. The reasoning behind the judge’s decision is that questions of fact are in dispute, as ZeniMax argues that unjust enrichment has taken place and Facebook has contended that it hasn’t.
“Oculus and Facebook content that ZeniMax’s should be dismissed because unjust enrichment is not a cause of action recognised under Texas law” the judgement reads. “ZeniMax counter argue that courts in this district have recently denied motions to dismiss unjust enrichment cases. The court elects not to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claim at this time.”
This entire lawsuit stems from a claim made back in May of last year, when ZeniMax Media claimed that it owned the intellectual property that powers the Oculus Rift device. Former id software designer John Carmack, who left ZeniMax in 2013 to join Oculus, was said to have taken the property with him, which led to the subsequent lawsuit.
“ZeniMax believes it is necessary to address these matters now and will take the necessary actions to protect its interests” the company stated at the time. However an Oculus representative later responded with “it’s unfortunate, but when there’s this type of transaction, people come out of the woodwork with ridiculous and absurd claims. We intend to vigorously defend Oculus and its investors to the fullest extent.”
In other Oculus related news, the device’s creator Palmer Luckey was recently depicted on the cover of Time Magazine wearing the headset while standing in front of a beach. The cover garnered widespread criticism and ridicule from the games industry for depicting the VR technology in such an awkward light.