By Deepa Seetharaman
A Hawaii company has sued Oculus VR, saying the founder of the
Facebook Inc.-owned virtual-reality system misappropriated
confidential information and proprietary technology.
Total Recall Technologies filed the lawsuit U.S. District Court
in Northern California Wednesday, saying it hired Oculus founder
Palmer Luckey in 2011 to build a prototype for a head-mounted
display. Mr. Luckey then used the information to create the Oculus
Rift headset, according to the complaint.
An Oculus spokeswoman declined to comment.
In the suit, Total Recall Technologies said it paid an
unspecified amount for the prototype's parts and secured exclusive
rights to Mr. Luckey's design. Mr. Luckey and Total Recall
Technologies partner Thomas Seidl sent notes to Mr. Luckey in late
2011 and 2012 on how to improve the headset's design, the suit
says.
But Total Recall Technologies said Mr. Luckey then launched a
Kickstarter campaign in 2012 to promote his own head-mounted
display, called Oculus Rift, and started his own company, breaching
his contract with his previous employer.
Total Recall Technologies is seeking damages, but didn't specify
the amount.
The lawsuit was previously reported by The Recorder, a
California legal newspaper.
The virtual-reality headset can be used to play videogames,
watch movies or double as a computer monitor. Facebook has said it
plans to ship a consumer version of the headset in the first
quarter of 2016.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg personally negotiated
the $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR in March 2014 and has said
that virtual-reality technology will transform the way people
interact online.
This is the second attempt by a company to lay claim on some
aspect of Oculus VR's technology. Last year, ZeniMax Media Inc., a
Maryland-based maker of videogames, sued Mr. Luckey, Oculus and
Facebook, claiming it developed the intellectual property that
powers the Oculus Rift headset and helped jump-start the company's
rapid growth. That lawsuit is ongoing.
Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com
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