It was announced on Wednesday that leading casino software developer Playtech has won their 2-month long legal battle against Cranway Limited.

In May 2009, Cranway filed a patent lawsuit against Playtech, claiming that Playtech was guilty of patent infringement. Cranway claimed that Playtech took an online gambling invention the company created as a realistic home gaming system to use on personal computers. They also filed the same lawsuit against various other software companies associated with Playtech.

During the case, Playtech enlisted in the help of a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge named Ian Leslie. Professor Leslie stated that Cranway only described the patent in very general terms, concerned more with function than design. Playtech also argued that the supposed invention was not new; it was the obvious next step in the casino industry and was, in actuality, not really an invention. Therefore, the case was thrown out, as the judge stated that Cranway’s patent was invalid.

The bad news, however, is that Playtech is now reporting that its earnings for the year would be lower than they previously indicated. This resulted in their shares falling by 20%, and Playtech attributes this to the current economic situation and it’s recent business venture with William Hill that did not take off as expected. They have, however, stated that this is no reason to be concerned, as Playtech will be part of another venture with the Serbian State Lottery, which has a monopoly on gambling in the Eastern European country, and will prove to be very profitable.