Scientific Games was ordered Tuesday to pay $315 million to four companies after a federal jury in Chicago ruled the gaming equipment manufacturer initiated sham litigation to assert invalid patents and keep a rival automatic card shuffling device out of the market.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly tripled the jury’s original $105 million award after announcing the verdict. The judge ordered Scientific Games to file any post-trial motions by Sept. 5. Scientific Games was also ordered to pay the plaintiff’s legal fees.

We’re quite happy, but it’s so fresh, we’re not sure what the next steps are,” Rick Schultz, the CEO of Chicago-based Shuffle Tech said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

The Chicago trial lasted 10 days.

Shuffle Tech filed an antitrust lawsuit against Scientific Games in 2014, which came out a 2012 patent-infringement lawsuit filed in Nevada by SHFL Entertainment – which is now part of Scientific Games – against DigiDeal Corp., Aces Up Gaming Inc. and Poydras-Talrick Holdings LLC, all of whom Shuffle Tech worked with in 2012 to launch its first automatic card-shuffler.

We’re quite happy, but it’s so fresh, we’re not sure what the next steps are,” Rick Schultz, the CEO of Chicago-based Shuffle Tech said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

The Chicago trial lasted 10 days.

Shuffle Tech filed an antitrust lawsuit against Scientific Games in 2014, which came out a 2012 patent-infringement lawsuit filed in Nevada by SHFL Entertainment – which is now part of Scientific Games – against DigiDeal Corp., Aces Up Gaming Inc. and Poydras-Talrick Holdings LLC, all of whom Shuffle Tech worked with in 2012 to launch its first automatic card-shuffler.

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