May 18, 2023 16:00:00

'Steam Deck' developer Valve sued for patent infringement

Immersion , a technology company based in the United States, sued Valve for patent infringement over technologies such as haptic feedback installed in the portable gaming PC `` Steam Deck '' developed by Valve. Immersion has filed similar lawsuits against Sony, Apple, Google, Microsoft and others.

Immersion Files Complaint Against Valve in US District Court for the Western District of Washington - Immersion Corporation
https://ir.immersion.com/news-releases/news-release-details/immersion-files-complaint-against-valve-us-district-court

Valve just got sued by Immersion over Steam Deck and Index rumble - The Verge

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/16/23726295/valve-immersion-rumble-lawsuit

Valve is being sued by a familiar face over Steam Deck - Dexerto
https://www.dexerto.com/tech/valve-is-being-sued-by-a-familiar-face-over-steam-deck-2147954/

Immersion Sues Valve for Patent Infringement Covering Steam Deck and VR Kit ' Valve Index '. He claimed that Valve infringed seven Immersion patents related to the ability to return tactile feedback such as vibration in response to user operations. The seven patents are:

・US Pat. No. 7,336,260 : Method and device for providing tactile sensation
- US Patent No. 8749507 : System and method for adaptively interpreting input from haptic input devices
- US Patent No. 9430042 : Virtual detent mechanism with vibrotactile feedback
・U.S. Patent No. 9116546 : System for Tactile Representation of Sensor Input
- US Patent No. 10627907 : Position control of user input elements associated with haptic output devices
- US Patent No. 10665067 : System and method for integrating haptic overlays in VR
- US Patent No. 11175738 : System and method for proximity-based haptic feedback

Immersion is a company that develops technologies such as haptic feedback, and has developed and purchased many patents on related technologies. For this reason, especially when hardware such as game consoles appeared, there were many times in the past that companies brought out their own patents and sued for patent infringement.

In 2002, Immersion filed

a lawsuit against Microsoft and Sony, and although Microsoft settled down by signing a license agreement with Immersion, Sony then continued a long patent lawsuit until 2007. On March 1, 2007, Sony and Immersion agreed to end the lawsuit, with Sony paying a significant amount of damages. In the midst of this lawsuit, the PlayStation 3 controller ' SIXAXIS' , which omitted the vibration function so as not to infringe on the patent, appeared. The vibration function has been revived.

Like Sony and Microsoft, Apple, Google, Motorola, and Fitbit have all been sued by Immersion and all have been brought to settlement, and in 2022, Meta will be sued again. In addition, Nintendo is said to have signed an Immersion license agreement to avoid lawsuits and introduced the Immersion system to the Nintendo Switch.

Immersion has also been criticized for being a patent troll that strips license fees from large companies because it has filed numerous lawsuits over patents. About this lawsuit, game media Dexerto posted an article entitled 'Lawsuit from a familiar company'. Technology media The Verge described it as 'a rite of passage.'