Moonton wins against Tencent in defamation lawsuit

by Adam Fitch  ·  Updated 
Moonton wins against Tencent in defamation lawsuit
Moonton

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton has won a commercial defamation lawsuit against Tencent in China.

The victory: It's reported that Tencent has to apologize publicly to Moonton.

  • The lawsuit went the way of Moonton, as per both Esports Insider and Jiemian, having been settled on October 6.
  • It's reported that the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court found that Tencent, which owns many major players in games, committed commercial slander and as such has to compensate Moonson to the tune of $30.7K (220,000 yuan).
  • Moonton and Tencent have another legal battle currently occurring in the United States. Tencent, the parent company of Riot Games, alleges that Moonton's strategy for Mobile Legends is "blatant copying" of its League of Legends: Wild Rift title.
The suit: The ruling states that Tencent attempted to discredit Moonton, weakening its positioning in Indonesia.
  • Esports Insider reports that Tencent sent warning letters to Moonton's partners in Indonesia, referring to Tencent's $2.9M lawsuit against Moonton's CEO Xu Zhenhua.
  • A court document reportedly highlights that the dispute was a labor case between Zhenhua and Tencent including a non-compete clause. Zhenhua joined Tencent in 2008 and was an employee there when founding Moonton.
  • Though Tencent won the aforementioned $2.9M suit, there was no decision on whether he violated trade secrets and thus Moonton filed this now-victorious suit for commercial defamation in regards to the warning letters.
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