Playtech scored a victory in its High Court industrial espionage case against OnAir on Wednesday, after Justice Thompsell ruled the lawsuit can proceed.
Playtech scored a victory in its High Court industrial espionage case against OnAir Entertainment on Wednesday (18 December), after Justice Thompsell ruled the lawsuit can proceed.
The High Court ruled in favour of Playtech in its legal battle against Realtime SIA, trading as OnAir, and other associated defendants over alleged misuse of trade secrets, breaches of confidentiality, and copyright infringement.
It follows dramatic allegations from former OnAir product owner Ivans Ivanovs earlier in the year, who has been a witness in the case, that ex-Playtech subsidiary employee Igors Veliks had retained access to Playtech’s internal environment after joining OnAir.
Multiple former OnAir employees confirmed the truth of these allegations to NEXT.io, and screenshots were provided that showed Veliks providing access though his credentials to the Playtech interface.
In the aftermath of the scandal, a Playtech spokesperson told NEXT.io it would investigate the matter for possible instances of IP infringement and other claims.
Justice Thompsell said: “I consider that there is a good arguable case at least against Mr Veliks with a degree of conviction for there being a breach of confidence, and therefore I find that there is a good arguable case with a suitable degree of conviction for there being a breach by him of [Regulation 3 of the Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018].”
The dispute centred on Playtech’s Horizon platform, which hosts proprietary online gambling games.
Playtech alleged that the former employee had accessed confidential data after leaving the company to work for Realtime SIA.
The B2B iGaming giant also argued that this constituted industrial espionage, claiming the data was used to develop competing games.
It presented evidence Veliks’ credentials were used to enter the site over 800 times between August 2021 and January 2024, amounting to over 200 hours of access.
High Court rules Playtech has case against Veliks and Realtime Latvia
Justice Thompsell determined there was a good arguable case against Veliks and his employer, Realtime Latvia, for breaches of confidence and trade secrets, and ruled they may also be vicariously liable.
However, the court found insufficient evidence to link Realtime Malta or Games Global Ltd to the misuse of confidential information, noting gaps in proof of direct knowledge or participation in any wrongdoing.
The Realtime companies were founded at a similar time to Games Global, and all entities are ultimately owned by the Landon Trust.
The court also upheld claims of copyright infringement concerning Playtech’s artistic logo design for Jet Set Racing Roulette, which had allegedly been copied by Veliks and distributed in the UK.
While Playtech successfully demonstrated the UK as the appropriate jurisdiction for these claims, arguments against other defendants, including Games Global, failed to meet the court’s Kawasaki Test, a stringent standard requiring clear and cogent evidence.
Justice Thompsell emphasised that the defendants lacked demonstrable awareness of breaches involving confidential data.
As such, the court ordered Playtech to amend its claim form and Particulars of Claim document.
OnAir’s own Latvian prosecution against Ivanovs for allegedly disclosing trade secrets failed in October.
This came after a Riga City Court judge ruled the information did not qualify as trade secrets under Latvian law.
In the aftermath of the scandal, OnAir told NEXT.io it had conducted an independent investigation and concluded the Playtech access was not used for spying.
NEXT.io has reached out to Playtech and OnAir for comment.