A jury, convened via Zoom, unanimously voted against Valve in a Steam Controller patent infringement lawsuit awarding $ 4 million in damages to Ironburg Inventions and SCUF. The original complaint was filed in a Washington court in 2015.
SCUF and Ironburg Inventions, subsidiaries of computer company Corsair, are known for their custom, “high-performance” video game controllers – specializing in both accessories and custom equipment. SCUF owns 105 patents for its designs, according to its website, many of which relate to its special trigger mechanisms. The “back control surfaces”, as explained in the opening arguments of the case at the end of January, were the subject of this particular case. In fact, SCUF said Valve copied its rear paddles – the one on the controller body.
It was a similar technology that SCUF licensed to Microsoft in 2015 for use on its Xbox Elite controller. The company also collaborated with Sony in 2018 on a PlayStation 4 controller with four rear paddles and the signature trigger extenders.
SCUF’s attorneys alleged that Valve willfully ignored SCUF’s patents and warnings, and went ahead with its infringing Steam Controller.
“Valve knew that its behavior posed an unreasonable risk of infringement, but it just continued to violate,” SCUF attorney Robert Becker said at trial, as reported by Law360. “The classic story of David and Goliath – Goliath does what Goliath wants to do.”
On Tuesday, SCUF owner Corsair announced that it had won its lawsuit against Valve after years in the legal system. The jury voted unanimously on all claims, including that the violation was “intentional,” meaning Corsair may owe more than the original fine, which is more than $ 4 million.
Valve’s Steam Controller has been discontinued for a while – and officially sold out in 2019 after a deal that offered the controller for $ 5.
Last week, Valve was hit by a possible class action lawsuit alleging that the company has violated antitrust rules. Five defendants complained about a “Most Favored Nations” clause in their contracts with game developers. This will prevent game developers from selling their games on other platforms at lower prices than on Steam, the complaint said. This is in addition to a combined fine of € 7.8 million imposed by the European Commission on Valve and five game publishers after the commission found that the companies were violating antitrust rules on “geo-blocking”.