Score one for Ironburg Inventions and SCUF.
The first-of-its-kind virtual patent infringement case against Valve has concluded in favor of Ironburg Inventions. The loss, in this case, will cost Valve a total of $4 million, which, for a company as large as Valve, certainly won’t hurt.
The patent, held by Ironburg Inventions for SCUF controllers, is specifically for certain buttons on controllers. If you’re familiar with the Xbox Elite controllers, you’ll know what these are, as SCUF licensed the design to Microsoft. Those small back paddles on specialized controllers are patented by SCUF, which originally warned Valve that it was infringing on its design in 2014. The Steam Controller, shown at CES that year, featured the very same back paddle buttons.