Ever heard of Words with Friends? Like many success stories, this one begins with passion.  It involves two brothers who held that first iPhone and began to dream of what games could become for a truly mass market.  Paul and David Bettner launched Newtoy together in 2008.  Consulting with Munck Wilson Mandala attorneys, they worked for almost a year in development on their first products. Less than a year later Newtoy released Words with Friends and launched a new genre of mobile, social entertainment. In 2010 the Bettners sold Newtoy to Zynga in one of the largest M&A transactions in mobile gaming history. As one of the most popular games in the world, Words With Friends continues to be one of Zynga’s key products.

Today, Paul Bettner is continuing his legacy for video game innovation as the founder and CEO of Playful Corp.  Playful’s headquarters is a trendy, urban loft right in the heart of McKinney, Texas, the same town where he and his brother had carved out a corner of the Public Library eight years earlier to develop their first company.

Playful is the creator of Lucky’s Tale, the wildly popular character action game designed exclusively for virtual reality that debuted alongside the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in 2016. Playful is also developing Creativerse, a next-generation sandbox adventure currently on Steam and receiving rave reviews from its beta players. Munck Wilson attorneys continue to advise Paul and his company and Playful continues to create games for cutting-edge platforms, next-generation devices, and virtual reality.

Kirk Laney, CEO of Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions (TAOS), manufacturers of an optoelectronic sensor used in smartphones, entered into negotiations for an acquisition with Intersil Corporation, sharing its trade secrets and other information under a non-disclosure agreement. The acquisition never took place but soon after the discussions, Intersil introduced a competing light sensor and used confidential pricing information to undercut TAOS and gain design wins with one of TAOS’ largest customers. TAOS was a small company facing a long and complex legal battle against a giant adversary.

Munck Wilson Mandala represented TAOS in Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc. v. Intersil Corporation. Crucial to the case were the defendant’s documents and email. They established that Intersil knew the technology was valuable and that their employees had violated the nondisclosure agreement by failing to destroy important due diligence documents obtained under the guise of seeking to buy TAOS. The documents also established that some of the engineers who participated in the due diligence were the same ones who developed Intersil’s competing technology.

After a four-week trial, the jury awarded $77 Million in damages and exemplary damages to TAOS, which was purchased by AMS in 2011. The court entered the final judgment in June 2016, after an eight-year legal battle. An appeal by Intersil is pending in the United States Court of Appeals but the trial team and Mr. Laney are confident that the outcome will be favorable.

In 2015, Lake Highlands welcomed a new business into the community–Oak Highlands Brewery.  OHB was the brainchild of Brad Mall and Derrin Williams.  While it was clear that both of them enjoyed beer, it wasn’t quite as evident that they were destined to be craft brewers.  Mall is an attorney and Williams is a geologist.  After brewing beer as a hobby to the delight of their colleagues and friends, the partners took a leap of faith, hung up their suits and jumped on the wave of craft brewing in North Texas.  The duo spent three years studying and perfecting the business of brewing before opening OHB.  Mall, a former partner at Munck Wilson, worked with the firm’s labor and employment team to help set up the new business and consulted with the intellectual property team on trademark issues.

OHB tap-room is a family-friendly location where the community can enjoy live music, food trucks, darts, and Jenga, while sipping one of several different OHB brews.  Kids and well-behaved dogs are welcome and the tap-room is now booked most Saturday evenings for private weddings and corporate events.  OHB offers six consistent beers and a rotating selection of experimental and seasonal beers.  If you aren’t near Lake Highlands, no worries – OHB beer is available at local bars, restaurants, and retail stores throughout North Texas. 

Scientific Health Development invests in earlier stage, life science technologies.  The firm has enjoyed a successful track record for more than 10 years and over three funds.  SHD’s portfolio companies have succeeded in bringing many innovative technologies to market that have benefited patients.  SHD remains an active investor in the life science sector, currently investing out of its third fund.

Founded by Ross Perot, Jr., Hillwood is one of the largest privately-owned real estate developers and investors in the U.S. Hillwood is focused on bringing long-term value to customers and partners through real estate developments, investments and public-private partnerships. AllianceTexas, the company’s flasghip projects, has attracted more than $7.8 billion in private investment, generated approximately $60 billion in economic impact and created over 45,000 jobs. And that’s just one of the many impressive Hillwood projects that make an impact on communities through insightful master planning and innovation, with a focus on long-term sustainability.