A Nevada District Court judge has decided the decision on whether or not Light & Wonder has infringed on Evolution’s copyright is not its decision.
In a ruling this week, Judge Cristina Silva sent the case, which centered around Evolution’slive dealer game Lightning Roulette, to arbitration.
Arbitration ruling comes after initial dismissal
Evolution first filed the suit in June 2024, alleging that Light & Wonder entered into a partnership to develop a land-based version of the company’s live dealer game only for Light & Wonder to bail on the agreement and launch a copycat game called Roulette X.
Silva dismissed the lawsuit in February, concluding the patents around Lightning Roulette weren’t enforceable, but she allowed Evolution to amend and resubmit it’s complaint, which it did.
The second time around, the case hinged upon the arbitration terms of the agreement the two companies entered into on the initial collaboration.
Evolution argued that there was a carve-out in the arbitration agreement where disputes “in relation to licensed properties” are not eligible for arbitration.
Judge says business agreement compels arbitration
Silva disagreed.
“Simply stated, that provision does not provide that matters of IP infringement should not be subject to arbitration. Rather, that provision states that if a matter is deemed to fall within infringement of IP, the matter should be governed by ‘laws of the territory where the IP is held and allegedly infringed,'” she wrote.
Light & Wonder argued that, even if it comes to an arbitor to decide, the time period for arbitration expired, as it needed to come about within 12 months from the date of the claim, which Evolution disagreed with.
Rather than rule on that matter, Silva said this, like the matter itself, was something for an arbitor, not the court to decide.
Light & Wonder Dragon Train lawsuit continues on
That is one less lawsuit in Nevada court for Light & Wonder, but the company still has an ongoing legal battle with competitor Aristocrat. Like Evolution, Aritstocrat accused Light & Wonder of copying its successful slot Dragon Link with its own title, Dragon Train.
In that case, a judge denied a motion to dismiss and the parties are currently in the discovery porocess, which is expected to extend into spring 2026.
