A Texas jury has found Oculus VR Inc. and some of its top executives liable for up to $500 million in damages in one of the biggest lawsuits ever to hit the growing virtual reality industry.

The jury did not find the Facebook-owned Oculus guilty of stealing its VR technology from ZeniMax Media Inc., but it did find Oculus founder Palmer Luckey (pictured) guilty of violating a non-disclosure agreement with ZeniMax.

According to Polygon, Oculus will be responsible for paying $200 million for violating the NDA, as well as $50 million more for copyright infringement. Meanwhile, Luckey will be personally responsible for $50 million, and Oculus co-founder and former Chief Executive Brendan Iribe must pay $150 million.

Oculus Chief Technology Officer John Carmack, who had been accused in ZeniMax’s filing of misappropriating trade secrets, is not liable for any damages. Carmack had been directly named in ZeniMax’s filing, but since the jury dismissed the company’s claims of IP theft, Carmack is off the hook. In addition, the jury did not find Facebook guilty of any wrongdoing in the way it handled its acquisition of Oculus, despite the questions raised by ZeniMax’s lawyer regarding whether Facebook did its due diligence before buying the company.

Oculus to appeal

Somehow, Oculus managed to spin its $500 million loss in a positive light in a statement, which focuses on the jury’s belief that no intellectual property theft took place. The company also said it plans to appeal the court’s decision, so it could be some time before the legal battles between Oculus and ZeniMax are over.

“The heart of this case was about whether Oculus stole ZeniMax’s trade secrets, and the jury found decisively in our favor,” Oculus said in its statement. “We’re obviously disappointed by a few other aspects of today’s verdict, but we are undeterred. Oculus products are built with Oculus technology. Our commitment to the long-term success of VR remains the same, and the entire team will continue the work they’ve done since day one – developing VR technology that will transform the way people interact and communicate. We look forward to filing our appeal and eventually putting this litigation behind us.”

While $500 million is a substantial sum, it falls short of the original $2 billion that ZeniMax sought in its lawsuit. In its filing, ZeniMax argued that Oculus and Facebook “stand to realize billions of dollars in value from ZeniMax’s intellectual property.”

SiliconANGLE reached out to ZeniMax for comment on the verdict and will update with its response.

Image via Oculus | Twitch.tv