Mark Zuckerberg, in Suit, Testifies in Oculus Intellectual Property Trial
Photo by Brian Solis
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, testified Tuesday in a trial that could cost his company $2 billion if a federal jury in Dallas finds that a company bought by Facebook stole technology that eventually went into a virtual reality headset.
A New York Times report on the trial says the “dispute started more than two and a half years ago when ZeniMax Media sued Oculus just months after Facebook announced that it would acquire the start-up. ZeniMax accused Oculus of stealing important elements of the technology that went into the creation of the headset, eventually including Facebook among the parties it was suing.”
Reporters Nick Wingfield and Mike Issac write that this case defied predictions by reaching a jury trial.
ZeniMax’s case is based on the idea that one of its former employeesshared ZeniMax virtual reality technology with a founder of Oculus, during the company’s early days, technology for which ZeniMax was never compensated, according to the report.
