The Seoul Central District Court has issued its first-instance ruling in the intellectual property dispute between 111% and New Normal Soft. Both companies are presenting different interpretations of the same verdict.

On the 2nd, the 63rd Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Gyu-yeong) ruled that New Normal Soft engaged in unfair competition and ordered the company to pay 111% approximately ₩557 million plus delay damages.

The lawsuit originated from allegations that 'Stop Attacking Me,' released by New Normal Soft in November 2024, unauthorizedly misappropriated elements of 111%'s mobile game 'Random Dice: GO.

The court determined that the combination of elements and the mode of expression in 'Random Dice: GO' constitute legally protected creative work, and that 'Stop Attacking Me' implements a structure substantially identical to it. Consequently, the court recognized New Normal Soft's actions as unfair competition contrary to fair commercial practices.

Conversely, New Normal Soft emphasized that the court dismissed all of 111%'s copyright infringement claims. The court found that 'Stop Attacking Me' could not be considered to have adopted the creative expressions of 'Random Dice: GO' in a substantially similar manner, and it did not recognize substantial similarity in individual elements—such as battlefield structure, workshop development, unit systems, growth mechanisms, design, and background music—nor in their overall combination. The court also specified that game rules, mechanisms, and interface layouts are considered ideas or functional elements and are therefore not subject to copyright protection.

New Normal Soft refuted 111%'s characterization of the ruling as a 'victory in a game plagiarism lawsuit,' arguing that since copyright infringement was not recognized, such claims are factually incorrect and fail to accurately reflect the core of the verdict. The court also dismissed all requests for an injunction against the service of 'Stop Attacking Me.' The game remains in normal operation.

While this first-instance ruling did not recognize copyright infringement, it did find evidence of unfair competition. With 111% citing the court's order for damages and New Normal Soft pointing to the dismissal of copyright infringement and service injunction claims, the case is now headed to appeal.