Malaysian resort group settles $1bn suit with Fox over theme park
Tourist resort developer Genting Malaysia has reached a settlement in its $1 billion lawsuit with 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company which will see the Malaysian group license IP from Fox.
Genting sued Fox and Disney in November last year, claiming that Fox had reneged on a deal to license its IP for a theme park just outside Kuala Lumpur.
The 2018 lawsuit claimed that Fox signed a deal with Genting five years before to license its IP for the first Fox-branded theme park, Fox World.
That deal would have seen Fox receive an annual licensing fee and a share of retail sales from Fox World.
Genting alleged that the deal turned sour when Disney began its acquisition of the film distributor, which was finalised in March this year.
According to the Malaysian company, the fact that its casino resorts would have been in close proximity to the theme park clashed with Disney’s “family-friendly” branding.
The parties have now reached a settlement which will see the theme park be renamed.
In a filing with the Malaysian stock exchange yesterday, July 25, Genting said that the parties had “entered into a settlement agreement fully resolving their disputes against each other and [agree] to dismiss all claims and counterclaims”.
Genting will be able to license “certain Fox IP”, the statement said, but will rename the ‘Fox World’ theme park.
The theme park will be completed using both Fox and non-Fox IP, Genting said.
The original plans for Fox World were centred around using characters and branding from Fox films such as “ Ice Age”, “ Rio”, and “ Planet of the Apes”.
Genting had sought to recover its initial $750 million investment in the theme park, as well as damages “in excess of $1 billion”.
WIPR has contacted Fox for comment.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
Liverpool FC anger local clubs with TM
Qualcomm dispute may have played role in Apple’s Intel deal: lawyers
