SAN FRANCISCO – A California judge has dismissed claims that Gameloft acted negligently and infringed upon the copyrights of a Vietnamese video game company in relation to the development of a racing car game application.
The Aug. 2 ruling is the result of a motion filed by Gameloft to have plaintiff Glass Egg Digital Media’s third amended complaint against it dismissed.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Maxine Chesney ruled out several of plaintiff Glass Egg’s claims, allowing only its claim that the defendant “took unlawful possession,” or “conversion” of works that were rightfully owned by Glass Egg.
The defendant had argued in its motion that the Copyright Act and California Uniform Trade Secrets Act (CUTSA) prevented them from being liable for conversion, but Chesney disagreed.
“The court finds a conversion claim that seeks the return of improperly acquired intangible property is of a different nature than a copyright claim,” Chesney states. “...Glass Egg’s conversion claim, as alleged in the [the amended complaint], is not based on misappropriation of any confidential information.”
According to the decision, the most-recent complaint filed by Glass Egg accused Gameloft of infringement and stealing special effects produced by their employees, as well as negligence and unfair competition.
The allegations stem from an initial complaint filed last year in which Glass Egg accused Gameloft of colluding with its employees and enlisting their services via subcontractors to produce 3-D digital car models, which they reportedly did during work hours using Glass Egg’s equipment.
The designs were later delivered to third-party studios, which then distributed them to Gameloft’s subsidiaries in Spain and France. They were then later sold in the United States.
“The third-party studios subcontracted production of the works to certain of Glass Egg’s employees in Vietnam, which employees, during working hours and using Glass Egg’s equipment, ‘clandestinely’ created the works,” the court decision stated.
According to the recent motion, Glass Egg has until Aug. 17 to file another amended complaint against Gameloft.