Oculus VR's motion to dismiss ZeniMax lawsuit denied by US District Court Judge

A judge has denied Facebook's motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by ZeniMax Media over accusations Oculus VR had “wrongfully taken” the firm’s intellectual property.

The motion to dismiss the case was denied Monday by US District Court Judge Jorge Antonio Solis, who also denied similar motions filed by Palmer Luckey and Oculus VR in July.

ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Fallout and Elder Scrolls developer, Bethesda, filed a lawsuit against Oculus VR in May 2014.

The intellectual property the firm is accusing the VR company of stealing includes copyrighted computer code, trade secrets, and “technical know-how” relating to VR technology.

According to court documents obtained by Polygon, the judge dismissed motions in which the defendants sought to expunge claims of "misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of an non-disclosure agreement and unjust enrichment."

The defendants stated the NDA was null due to the exclusion of a defined "proper purpose" wasn't defined and that "Luckey wasn't given anything in return for his promise to keep things secret," according to Polygon.

A discovery deadline for February 2016 has been set, and a preliminary jury trial is slated for August 1 of next year.

Back in May 2014 ZeniMax accused John Carmack, of stealing tech belonging to the firm when he left id Software for Oculus VR in 2013 to become its chief technical officer.