Zona de Azar USA – Judge Dismisses Evolution Lawsuit over ‘Copycat’ Roulette

USA.- February 13, 2025 www.zonadeazar.com US District Judge Cristina D. Silva ruled Evolution’s patents were invalid because they covered abstract ideas rather than patentable innovations.
The decision, issued yesterday (11 February), centred on three patents related to Evolution’s Lightning Roulette game, which combines traditional roulette with random multipliers that can boost payouts.

The judge said: “Based on my analysis of representative Claim 1 of the ‘014 patent, I conclude that the ‘014, ‘024, and ‘371 patents are invalid under Alice. Therefore, L&W’s motion to dismiss must be granted.”

A Light & Wonder spokesperson told : “We’re very pleased with the court’s ruling.”

Evolution alleges Lightning Roulette infringement
The dispute arose after Light & Wonder released RouletteX, which Evolution claimed was a “copycat” of its Lightning Roulette game.

According to court documents, Evolution had previously shared confidential information with Light & Wonder while negotiating a potential partnership to bring Lightning Roulette to land-based casinos.

Evolution argued that RouletteX copied key features of Lightning Roulette, including the random selection of up to five roulette numbers and the assignment of multipliers ranging from 50x to 500x.
The company also noted that RouletteX used similar animated lightning strikes to identify selected numbers.

However, Judge Silva found that Evolution’s patents essentially described “a method of exchanging and resolving financial obligations based on probabilities”, meaning an abstract concept that cannot be patented.

The judge also determined that the patents failed to explain how their technological components achieved their claimed improvements over traditional roulette.

While dismissing the complaint, Judge Silva granted Evolution leave to amend its filing, though she expressed “some doubt that Evolution can amend around this problem”.

The court has referred the matter to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference.

Evolution has 14 days following the settlement conference to file an amended complaint if it chooses to continue pursuing its claims.

Edited by @pererarte   www.zonadeazar.com