A jury, meeting on Zoom, voted unanimously against Valve during a trial over a Steam Controller patent infringement case, awarding $ 4 million in damages to the Ironburg and SCUF Inventions. The original complaint was filed in 2015 in a Washington court.
SCUF and Ironburg Inventions, subsidiaries of the computer company Corsair, are known for their custom “high performance” video game controllers – specializing in custom accessories and equipment. SCUF holds 105 patents for its designs, according to its website, many of which are related to its special trigger mechanisms. The “backside control surfaces”, as explained in the case’s opening arguments in late January, were the subject of this specific case. Basically, SCUF said that Valve copied its rear paddles – those on the body of the controller.
It was a similar technology that SCUF licensed to Microsoft in 2015 for use on its Xbox Elite controller. The company also partnered with Sony in 2018 on a PlayStation 4 controller that included four rear paddles and their unique trigger extenders.
SCUF’s lawyers claimed that Valve deliberately disregarded SCUF’s patents and notices, and went ahead with its violation of the Steam Controller.
“Valve knew that its conduct involved an irrational risk of violation, but it simply went on to infringe in any way,” said SCUF lawyer Robert Becker during the trial, as reported by Law 360. Goliath does what Goliath wants to do. ”
On Tuesday, SCUF owner Corsair announced that he won the case against Valve after years in the justice system. The jury voted unanimously on all claims, including that the violation was “intentional”, meaning that Corsair may be owed more than the original fine, which is more than $ 4 million.
Valve’s Steam controller was discontinued for a while – and officially sold in 2019 after a deal that offered the controller for $ 5.
Last week, Valve was hit by a potential class action claim that the company was violating antitrust rules. Five defendants filed a complaint about a “Most Favored Nations” clause in their contracts with game developers. This prevents game developers from selling their games on other platforms at lower prices than on Steam, according to the complaint. This adds up to a combined € 7.8 million fine issued to Valve and five game publishers by the European Commission, after the commission found that the companies had breached antitrust rules regarding “geographic blocking”.