Key facts regarding the Facebook / Zenimax case

Since acquiring Oculus in 2014 for $2 billion, Facebook had become embroiled in a copyright lawsuit with regards to VR technology under Zenimax. Facebook has since lost the court case and has been ordered to pay $500m damages to Zenimax.

We take a look at the top facts surrounding the case.

1. It was revealed that prior to acquiring Oculus, the company allegedly stole Zenimax’s trade ideas surrounding their VR Headset.
2. The company has since been found guilty of copyright infringement, amongst other legalities
3.  Facebook is contemplating whether to appeal the ruling. Mark Zuckerberg has previously stated that "the idea that Oculus products are based on someone else's technology is just wrong".
4. It has been reported that Oculus employees, Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe previously exploited Zenimax’s operations and knowledge of its developing products, before joining Facebook, where it has since been enhanced further, exploiting and disregarding a non-disclosure agreement which was put in place and signed by both individuals.
5. Luckey has been ordered to pay $50 million of the award and Brendan Iribe $150 million.
6.  CNBC has previous reported that in court, Zuckerberg had stated that he was unaware “of the intellectual property claims between Oculus and Zenimax” but will advise his legal team to investigate any other possible legalities.
7. The rift between the two companies now goes so deep that Zenimax has informed Polygon that it may seek a temporary injunction against the release of the Oculus Rift headset, due to copyright regarding computer codes.

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