Judge ordered Oculus to pay $250 million to ZeniMax

A US judge has halved the $500 million fine by a jury that Oculus must pay to ZeniMax. The judge also rejects a ban on the sale of VR glasses from Oculus.

According to Reuters, the judge has ruled that there is not enough evidence to show that the damage incurred warrants a $500 million fine. At the beginning of last year, a jury ruled that Oculus must pay ZeniMax half a billion dollars, including for breaking a non-disclosure agreement.

A court order for a ban on the sale of Oculus products has been rejected. However, the judge is holding onto a $250 million fine, which must be paid to ZeniMax by Oculus founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe. Oculus is fined for using ZeniMax intellectual property to release the Oculus Rift VR headset.

Already in 2014, ZeniMax sued Oculus, because it claims to own the rights to the technology behind the Oculus Rift. John Carmack originally worked at id Software, part of ZeniMax, on VR technology, but switched to Oculus. ZeniMax sued for $6 billion in damages for allegedly bringing and using Carmack code and significant technology knowledge.