Oculus refutes claims in Zenimax lawsuit and demands trial by jury

Last month Zenimax Media filed suit against Oculus VR over intellectual property rights relating to the company's VR headset and its software, and today Oculus filed a response categorically denying Zenimax's allegations and requesting a trial by jury. "Zenimax’s Complaint falsely claims ownership in Oculus VR technology in a transparent attempt to take advantage of the Oculus VR sale to Facebook," reads an opening line of the document, which goes on to assert that "there is not a line of Zenimax code or any of its technology in any Oculus VR product." That's worth noting because Zenimax (and its subsidiary id Software) filed its lawsuit in federal court against Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey and his company over what it claims to be unlawful exploitation and infringement of its intellectual property, including "trade secrets, copyrighted computer code, and technical know-how relating to virtual reality technology" that was developed by Zenimax. Oculus goes on to refute pretty much all of Zenimax's claims, pointing out that the company often neglected to take action on any perceived issues until after it learned that Facebook acquired Oculus in March for roughly $2 billion in cash and stock. For example, Oculus claims to have sent Zenimax a preview of the Oculus Rift source code at the end of 2012, before it ever made the code available to the public. The company says Zenimax never claimed any portion of the code or, indeed, the Rift technology itself was based upon John Carmack's work while he was a Zenimax employee, despite having access to the code for a year and a half before Facebook bought Oculus. We've taken the liberty of publishing the full legal response filed by Oculus below, in which Zenimax is portrayed as a company that is "seeking to correct for a massive missed opportunity through the assertion of meritless litigation."

Oculus' Response to Zenimax