Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, and Moonton, the developer of Mobile Legends, have a long history in court. Now, a major development of a copyright lawsuit filed by Riot against Moonton in the U.S. has granted relief to the latter.
U.S. court dismisses Riot Games’ lawsuit against Mobile Legends dev Moonton
The Central District Court of California has dismissed Riot’s copyright infringement lawsuit on the grounds of “forum non conveniens.” This legal term means that the court found that another jurisdiction is more suitable to handle the lawsuit. In Riot Games v. Moonton’s case, the U.S. court said that China is more suited to handle the lawsuit.
Riot Games is owned by the Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent. Now, Tencent is already suing Moonton in a separate case in China. The U.S. district court felt that it was unfair that Tencent and Riot are bringing a “two-front war” against Moonton.
Image via Riot Games
The court also questioned Tencent’s nonparticipation in the case. It felt that this was unfair to Moonton’s defense as it’s unclear what elements of League and Wild Rift have been developed by Tencent and Riot.
This isn’t the first time this is happening
Riot Games had earlier taken Moonton to court for the same reason in 2017. That lawsuit was dismissed by the same court, however, on the grounds of forum non conveniens as well.
Tencent vs Moonton: Mobile Legends developer wins defamation lawsuit
Moonton had took Tencent to court in 2019 for defamation and spreading false information.
The U.S. district court said that the new lawsuit was simply because Riot was unhappy with the progress of the ongoing Chinese court fight.
“The question is whether circumstances have truly changed from those that existed in 2017 or whether Riot simply seeks a second bite at the apple, unhappy with the progress (or lack thereof) in the still ongoing, parallel China litigation. The Court deems the latter to be the case.”
U.S. district court judge
Image via Moonton
What did Riot Games say in its lawsuit against Mobile Legends dev Moonton?
Riot Games had taken Moonton to court last May for plagiarizing Wild Rift and League. In its lengthy complaint, the company had attached various splash art and in-game screenshots to show how Mobile Legends was ripping-off League.
Screenshot via Polygon
Riot had also attached several screenshots of social media comments saying that Mobile Legends was blatantly copying League.
Screenshot via Polygon
For now, Riot told PC Gamer that it “strongly disagrees with the court’s decision.” It added that the company is considering “all possible options, including an appeal.”
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