High 5 Games, LLC v. Int’l Game Tech., No. 15 C 2133, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Oct. 8, 2015) (Bucklo, J.).

Judge Bucklo granted in part defendant International Game Technology’s (“ICG”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss plaintiff High 5 Games (“H5G”) Lanham Act and breach of contract case.

The Court held as follows:

  • H5G’s breach of contract was not resolved by IGT’s royalty payments because H5G argued that the payments were only partial.
  • The parties disputed whether their agreement allowed IGT to produce bingo-based games. The Court, therefore, denied IGT’s motion to dismiss on this issue.
  • The parties’ disputed the choice of law with respect to the damages limitation clause that purportedly prevented H5G from collecting treble damages.
  • The Court dismissed H5G’s Lanham Act unfair competition claims because H5G had not used the relevant marks in commerce.
  • H5G’s twenty seven paragraphs in the complaint, including side-by-side comparisons, sufficiently filed H5G’s deceptive trade practices claim pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b).