It seems like The Oculus Rift's legal troubles have not ended as Zenimax seeks to stop the sales of the popular VR headset. Zenimax is apparently the head company for game developers like Bethesda Softworks, Arkane Studios and id Software. A few weeks ago, reports have indicated that the company already considered pursuing a sales injunction against Oculus after a court ruled that the company's trade secrets were misused.
According to Game Rant, a Texas court awarded the parent company a sum of $500 million for NDA breaches and infringement. The company's initial suit apparently demanded $6 billion and also included outright theft. However, the court did not acknowledge any evidence of theft. The court's decision obviously lands a damaging hit against the VR headset company. Additionally, the latest sale injunction request continues to loom on the horizon.
The injunction filed by Zenimax seeks to stop all future distribution and sales of any products from Oculus that supposedly runs on its copyrighted code. Polygon elaborates that the Oculus Rift is definitely included as well as system software for the PC and mobile products, integration with the Unity Game Engine and Unreal Engine. If the sales injunction gets approved, it will also reportedly affect developers involved with the VR platform.
On the other hand, if the court decides to block the injunction, the company expects to receive an "ongoing royalty" from all future sales, reports Polygon. They apparently did not elaborate the amount, but it looks like "an ongoing royalty of 20 percent for the last ten years." It will possibly apply to all income that resulted from the sales of products that make use of their IP.
Zenimax reportedly sued the makers of the Oculus Rift back in 2014. It was apparently filed after their accusation of John Carmack went public. It allegedly cites that the former chief technology officer from is Software leaks protected information to the VR headset. Meanwhile, Oculus revealed that they plan to file an appeal in court depending on the jury's decisions.