According to the lawsuit, the DFS business was in contact with Vetnos co-founder Dan Orlow, who is the co-inventor of each of the patents, from the summer of 2018.
During a reported phone call in July that year, former PrizePicks CEO Adam Wexler allegedly told Orlow “we liked your game so much, we decided to copy it.”
Orlow told NEXT.io: “We continue to believe that PrizePicks not only are infringing on Vetnos’s valuable patent rights, but they have done so willfully.
“In addition, we have alleged that the entire PrizePicks enterprise was created based on its misappropriation of Vetnos trade secrets.
“Vetnos will continue to innovate to the benefit of its investors and Tribal partners, and seek to enforce its rights under the rule of law.”
The lawsuit adds in five additional infringement claims from the three included in the company’s previous June 2023 legal action, alongside its allegation of misappropriation of trade secrets.
Vetnos, which is represented by multinational law firm Greenberg Traurig, said in the filing it had originally hoped to add in the additional claims by amending its complaint in the first case.
However, PrizePicks allegedly refused, with Vetnos arguing it had only agreed to include a subset of the patents, as well as imposing “unnecessary conditions” on agreeing the amendment.Vetnos’ attorneys said: “PrizePicks’ actions resulted in further vexatious and unnecessary multiplication of the proceedings, and burdening both Vetnos and the court system.”
Vetnos’ current clients include two California tribes that the business supplies Class II Sports Gaming technology to.
A spokesperson from PrizePicks declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by NEXT.io.
PrizePicks legal action to proceed
The DFS operator filed a Motion to Dismiss Vetnos’ June 2023 case in September of the same year, arguing the concepts were too abstract to successfully patent, and the misappropriated trade secrets claims were unsupported by evidence.
However, a Special Master appointed by the court recommended in March 2024 the Motion be denied as PrizePicks had failed to establish its case with necessary evidence.
The court later agreed with the finding, opting to deny PrizePicks’ Motion to Dismiss in July 2024, allowing the case to proceed.
Greenberg Traurig SVP Scott Bornstein said at the time: “We are pleased that the court recognised the inventive nature of Vetnos’ patent portfolio and denied PrizePicks’ effort to invalidate the patents.
“We look forward to moving the case forward to trial.”
