Associated Press

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Attends Virtual Reality Copyright Trial in Dallas

Zuckerberg defends Facebook for claim of technology theft

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent much of Tuesday on a Dallas federal court witness stand defending his firm against claims it stole intellectual property for the Oculus virtual reality headset.

Zuckerberg said Facebook invested around $3 billion to buy Oculus as a way of moving rapidly into virtual reality technology, a figure higher than what was reported at the time of the 2014 deal.

He said he was so anxious to see Facebook move into VR that he pushed completion of the deal in just a matter of days over a weekend. But he denied any technology was stolen.

"The idea that Oculus technology is based on someone else's work is just wrong," Zuckerberg said.

ZeniMax Media, which owns id Software, based in Richardson, Texas, filed the lawsuit claiming former employee John Carmack took secrets with him when he joined Oculus. 

A lawyer for ZeniMax confronted Zuckerberg with emails and documents suggesting there were concerns about Oculus technology before the deal, but Zuckerberg said the accusations surfaced later, were not credible and were not pursued by Facebook.

ZeniMax is seeking $2 billion in damages.The trial began Jan. 10 and could last two more weeks.

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