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Report: Oculus Ordered to Pay $500M in ZeniMax Suit

The spat dates back to 2014 when ZeniMax sued the virtual reality firm for misappropriating trade secrets.

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus has been ordered to pay $500 million in damages to video game publisher ZeniMax Media for failing to comply with a non-disclosure agreement.

The decision came back Wednesday after the Dallas, Texas, jury deliberated for two and a half days on a verdict, according to Polygon. They also said Oculus did not misappropriate ZeniMax trade secrets, as the publisher had claimed.

The spat dates back to 2014 when ZeniMax sued the virtual reality firm for misappropriating trade secrets, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and unfair competition. According to the complaint, former employee John Carmack started corresponding with Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey in April 2012, when the Oculus Rift was "a crude prototype."

Luckey gave Carmack an early version of the Rift "and Carmack and other ZeniMax personnel added numerous improvements to the prototype," the complaint said. "Together, those ZeniMax employees literally transformed the Rift by adding physical hardware components and developing specialized software for its operation."

Oculus later hired Carmack as its CTO, which ZeniMax claimed put its intellectual property—"including trade secrets, copyrighted computer code, and technical know-how relating to virtual reality technology that was developed by ZeniMax after years of research and investment"—at risk.

Despite the victory, ZeniMax was seeking a lot more: in closing arguments, the company's lawyer said it should win $4 billion in compensation and punitive damages, Polygon notes. Oculus's attorney said ZeniMax was just embarrassed and jealous.

Facebook and ZeniMax did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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