On 15 December 2022, Nicholas J of the Federal Court of Australia awarded Aristocrat Technologies Pty Limited both an account of profits and damages arising from Konami Australia Pty Limited’s infringement of Aristocrat’s patent over its Hyperlink technology.

Today’s Court orders require Konami to pay Aristocrat the sum of almost $36M (including interest). Aristocrat was also awarded its legal costs, including a portion on an indemnity basis.

The litigation has been on foot for over a decade. Aristocrat succeeded in the Federal Court both at first instance and on appeal in finding that Konami had infringed the Hyperlink patent before the Court moved to consider the quantum aspects. 

Gilbert + Tobin partner, John Lee, said: “We are very pleased to have achieved this result in conjunction with our client Aristocrat. In my experience, this is likely to be a record award of compensation for a claim of this type. Aristocrat invests considerable resources in research and innovation and this is an endorsement of its valuable IP.”

John worked with lawyers Irini Lantis, Giulia Fimmano, Jennifer Saclley and Connor Jarvis. Counsel for Aristocrat were Tony Bannon SC, Andrew Fox SC and Wen Wu. 

The full judgment can be found at Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited v Konami Australia Pty Limited (No 4) [2022] FCA 1501. 

Konami is yet to formally indicate if they propose to appeal.