The company responsible for Steam convicted of infringing a patent registered by Ironburg Inventions, owner of the SCUF Gaming controller brand.
Valve, the well-known company that owns Steam, one of the most popular digital video game platforms for PC, will have to pay $ 4 million to Ironburg Inventions, company that owns the SCUF Gaming brand of controllers and accessories, for having infringed a patent when creating the Steam Controller, his own controller that managed to sell more than 1.5 million units during the four years it was on the market. This was collected by the GameIndustry medium after the trial was held on January 26.
Valve received the patent notice in 2014
Thus, and through a trial that took place a week ago via videoconference as a result of the restrictions due to the coronavirus health crisis, Valve was unanimously sentenced to pay 4 million dollars to the affected company, Ironburg Inventions, for the damages caused, instead of the 11 million dollars that were requested at the beginning. And is that according to the affected party, Valve was warned already in 2014 of the patent infringement, notice that apparently was rejected.
Valve for its part maintains that it has not infringed any patent; be that as it may, from Ironburg Inventions they claim that Valve copied the characteristic of “control surfaces in the back” of a patent registered in 2011 by Simon Burgees, CEO of Ironburg Inventions. Valve finally continued with its prototype to market the Steam Controller in 2015 with said feature included, which is reflected in the patent itself provided by the affected party and which can be seen in the drawing with the number 11 above these lines.
We will see if the sentence is finally maintained at $ 4 million or even increases in the coming days or weeks. Valve for now has not made any movement after hearing the sentence.
