Macau court dismisses SHFL multi-game appeal

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n May 3, 2016, the Macau First Instance Court dismissed an appeal from SHFL Entertainment (Asia) Ltd, which sought an injunction against Paradise Entertainment Ltd and its subsidiaries’ assertions of monopolistic rights over ‘multi-gaming’ in the Macau market.

The injunction, originally filed with the court in 2012, sought to prevent Paradise Entertainment and its subsidiaries from claiming monopoly rights over multi-game electronic table game products in Macau. SHFL claimed that such conducts portrayed an abuse of the intellectual property rights and infringed the rules of fair competition.

The lawsuit named Paradise Entertainment and its units LT Game Ltd and Natural Noble Ltd as well as Jay Chun, Paradise Entertainment’s chairman and executive director – collectively the holders of two Macau patents for certain gaming equipment.

The lower court dismissed the injunction in November 2013, and now the Court of Second Instance has confirmed that decision, turning down SHFL Asia’s appeal.

“The aforesaid entities and/or individuals, being respondents in the said judicial

proceeding now terminated, have always refuted all allegations put forward by SHFL

and restated its rights under the relevant patents registered in the Macau Special

Administrative Region,” read a statement from Paradise Entertainment.

“Consequently, the court also decided that SHFL shall pay all court fees relating to the

aforesaid court case.”