Aristocraft Technologies blocks Light & Wonder's Dragon Train from US

Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train will not appear in the United States – for now. This is the decision of US District Court Judge Gloria M. Navarro who has granted a preliminary injunction against Light & Wonder’s attempt to deploy the Dragon Train franchise locally.

The request, made by competitor Aristocrat Technologies, may yet be overturned. However, for the time being, Judge Navarro has said that Light & Wonder won’t be able to deploy the Dragon Train franchise in any form on US soil, whether it is part of a planned sale, leasing, or commercialization.

Aristocrat scores important win against Light & Wonder

The contentious bone in the case is a rather sensitive issue. Aristocrat Technologies claims that Light & Wonder has nicked private and copyrighted information that has allowed the latter company to bring a new product to bear much quicker and without the customary expenditure of resources that would have otherwise gone into building Dragon Train.

Light & Wonder has vehemently denied any impropriety or theft. However, Aristocrat Chief Product Officer Matthew Primmer has hailed the decision as a landmark and professed his trust in the law to protect the company’s intellectual property.

"This ruling underscores the value of our intellectual property and reaffirms our commitment to protecting the integrity of our business," Primmer added. However, the company is not quite done with Light & Wonder, as it will press on its case in the United States and Austria.

Light & Wonder has appeared cool in the face of the decision, arguing that the company was in a strong position to pursue further growth despite the recent legislative debacle. In a press release, the company insisted that it "respectfully disagreed" with the decision and was now in the process of filing an appeal.

"We will continue to vigorously defend against Aristocrat’s claims, including presenting our defenses to a jury at a trial," said Light & Wonder executives, in a formal release. We have a diversified portfolio of successful game franchises that are driving our strong performance and growth, of which Dragon Train is only one," the company said.

Analysts still confident about Light & Wonder’s long-term prospects

Meanwhile, Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon has warned that the company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization or EBITDA could be hit with anything up to $70m as a result of this ruling, if it remains in place.

Beynon is fairly confident that Light & Wonder is poised to continue outperforming expectations and create value for shareholders, but he said that recent litigation between Aristocrat and Evolution, another company that alleges Light & Wonder misappropriated its internal files containing math algorithms and payout structures, could indeed have a chilling effect on the short-term growth on the company’s stock.

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