Judge denies Epic Games’s dismissal of Silicon Knight’s lawsuit
An update has just arrived regarding the ongoing legal tussle between developers Silicon Knights (SK) and Epic Games. As a recap, it will be remembered that SK’s ongoing lawsuit against Epic involves the Unreal Engine 3 that was intended to be used for SK’s Too Human title for the 360.
Epic had reportedly given SK a poor version of the engine, and kept a better version for themselves, which was used for Gears of War. SK has since considered Epic’s alleged actions an act of sabotage, and followed up with a lawsuit.
Epic has since retaliated with their own counter-suit seeking to dismiss SK’s claims. Both SK and Epic have just confirmed that the latter’s dismissal request has been denied by the case’s presiding judge. As Epic Games VP Mark Rein elaborated:
[The Judge] put the discovery process in motion, which will allow the lawsuits to move forward. Epic had asked for the entire case to be dismissed. Judge Dever denied this request, which is not unusual. Often these requests are denied. It is important to note that this was not a decision on the merits of Silicon Knights’ claims. We are confident that the evidence will show Silicon Knights breached its license with Epic Games and violated our copyrights and trade secrets.
On the side of the matter, Christopher T. Holland, SK’s attorney for the case, stated that the company’s initial claims would be kept for the upcoming trials, which have yet to be scheduled. As Holland stated regarding this latest turn of events:
We’re a long way from a verdict in this case, but certainly as a plaintiff we’re pleased that the court has recognized the merit in our claims and we’re happy that we can now proceed as planned with all the claims we brought for discovery and trial.
It remains to be just how this legal battle will affect Too Human‘s release, which was last set for next year.
Via GameDaily
An update has just arrived regarding the ongoing legal tussle between developers Silicon Knights (SK) and Epic Games. As a recap, it will be remembered that SK’s ongoing lawsuit against Epic involves the Unreal Engine 3 that was intended to be used for SK’s Too Human title for the 360.
Epic had reportedly given SK a poor version of the engine, and kept a better version for themselves, which was used for Gears of War. SK has since considered Epic’s alleged actions an act of sabotage, and followed up with a lawsuit.
Epic has since retaliated with their own counter-suit seeking to dismiss SK’s claims. Both SK and Epic have just confirmed that the latter’s dismissal request has been denied by the case’s presiding judge. As Epic Games VP Mark Rein elaborated:
[The Judge] put the discovery process in motion, which will allow the lawsuits to move forward. Epic had asked for the entire case to be dismissed. Judge Dever denied this request, which is not unusual. Often these requests are denied. It is important to note that this was not a decision on the merits of Silicon Knights’ claims. We are confident that the evidence will show Silicon Knights breached its license with Epic Games and violated our copyrights and trade secrets.
On the side of the matter, Christopher T. Holland, SK’s attorney for the case, stated that the company’s initial claims would be kept for the upcoming trials, which have yet to be scheduled. As Holland stated regarding this latest turn of events:
We’re a long way from a verdict in this case, but certainly as a plaintiff we’re pleased that the court has recognized the merit in our claims and we’re happy that we can now proceed as planned with all the claims we brought for discovery and trial.
It remains to be just how this legal battle will affect Too Human‘s release, which was last set for next year.
Via GameDaily