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Back in February, Valve was ordered to pay $4 million to SCUF Gaming parent company Ironburg Inventions. The case focused on the back paddles on the Steam Controller. Valve was found to have violated Ironburg's patent on the implementation of back paddles. Valve was warned about the infringement back in 2014, but went ahead with making the Steam Controller anyway. Valve claimed that the buttons were different from the ones in the Ironburg patent.
Well, Valve lost that case and quickly filed for an appeal or even a new trial because the jury's findings and damage rewards "were unsupported by the evidence." The judge disagreed and denied Valve their new trial. The Esports Observer shares a transcript of the denial.
"In his opening statement, counsel for [Valve] told the jury that 'this is about as straightforward a patent case as you could ever hope to get because every decision that you will have to make in this trial you can make with just two pieces of evidence'," the ruling says. "[Valve's] lawyer asked the jury to 'focus on those two pieces of essential evidence,' which would 'be at the heart of this entire trial,' and he indicated that, if the jury did so and based its decision 'on reality,' it would have no trouble making the right decision at the end of this case."
"The Court agrees that this case is straightforward and can be decided on the ’525 Patent and the accused device. The jury appears to have done exactly that, but defendant does not like the result the jury reached. Defendant’s dissatisfaction does not constitute grounds for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial."
"The Court agrees that this case is straightforward and can be decided on the ’525 Patent and the accused device. The jury appears to have done exactly that, but defendant does not like the result the jury reached. Defendant’s dissatisfaction does not constitute grounds for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial."
Valve has the option to appeal further, but it might not be worth it for them at this point. They may just take the $4 million hit and be done with this, especially since Valve hasn't manufactured and sold the Steam Controller since 2019.
