Immersion Corporation, a developer and provider of technologies for haptics, has announced that it has filed a complaint against Valve in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington over what is alleged to be patent infringement regarding its Steam Deck and Valve Index devices. The complaint against Valve asserts infringement of at least seven patents, including those involving a “method and apparatus for providing tactile sensations” and a “system for haptically representing sensor input.” This does not appear to be the first time that Immersion has filed a suit against a gaming giant over patent infringement claims.
“Immersion and its employees have worked diligently for almost 30 years to invent innovative haptic technologies that allow people to use their sense of touch to engage with products and experience the digital world around them. Our intellectual property is relevant to many of the most important and cutting-edge ways in which haptic technology is and can be deployed, and, in the case of AR/VR experiences, haptics is crucial to an immersive user experience,” said Eric Singer, Chairman and CEO.
“While we are pleased to see that Valve recognizes the value of haptics and has adopted our haptic technology in its handheld video game and AR/VR systems as part of its effort to generate revenue streams through the sales of hardware, games and other virtual assets, and advertisements, it is important for us to protect our business against infringement of our intellectual property to preserve the investments that we have made in our technology,” added Mr. Singer. “We must ensure that our intellectual property is recognized as a necessary feature in the handheld video game and emerging AR/VR markets, even when litigation becomes necessary.”
Patents Listed in Immersion’s Complaint
- U.S. Patent No. 7,336,260: “Method and Apparatus for Providing Tactile Sensations”
- U.S. Patent No. 8,749,507: “Systems and Methods for Adaptive Interpretation of Input from a Touch-Sensitive Input Device”
- U.S. Patent No. 9,430,042: “Virtual Detents Through Vibrotactile Feedback”
- U.S. Patent No. 9,116,546: “System for Haptically Representing Sensor Input”
- U.S. Patent No. 10,627,907: “Position Control of a User Input Element Associated With a Haptic Output Device”
- U.S. Patent No. 10,665,067: “Systems and Methods for Integrating Haptics Overlay in Augmented Reality”
- U.S. Patent No. 11,175,738: “Systems and Methods for Proximity-Based Haptic Feedback”
From an Immersion Corporation press release:
The complaint alleges that Valve’s handheld video game and augmented and virtual reality (“AR/VR”) systems, including the Steam Deck and Valve Index, infringe seven Immersion patents that cover various uses of haptic effects in connection with such systems. Immersion is seeking to enjoin Valve from further infringement and to recover a reasonable royalty for such infringement.
Discussion (3 replies)
Join Discussion →I'm curious how successful Immersion Corporation's lawsuits have been to date against other makers. That will inform the risk that Steam is looking at.
And yes copyright enforcement is important because as soon as a company fails to enforce copyright is when someone else can argue that it is null and void.
And Google bard.... your suck:
Rephrased my question and got back something useful:
What lawsuits has immersion interactive filed?
Immersion Corporation, the company formerly known as Immersion Interactive, has filed a number of lawsuits against various companies in the tech industry. These lawsuits have alleged patent infringement of Immersion's haptic feedback technology.
Some of the companies that Immersion Corporation has sued include:
Immersion Corporation has also sued a number of smaller companies that make gaming hardware and software.
The lawsuits filed by Immersion Corporation have been successful in some cases and unsuccessful in others. In 2017, Immersion Corporation settled a lawsuit with Apple for $80 million. In 2018, Immersion Corporation lost a lawsuit against Sony and was ordered to pay Sony $40 million.
Immersion Corporation's lawsuits have been controversial. Some people have accused Immersion Corporation of being a patent troll, a company that buys patents with the sole purpose of suing other companies for infringement. Immersion Corporation has denied these accusations, saying that it is simply trying to protect its intellectual property.
The lawsuits filed by Immersion Corporation have had a significant impact on the tech industry. They have raised awareness of the importance of haptic feedback technology and have led to a number of companies developing their own haptic feedback solutions.
At first, I would've thought nothing of this but in reading the Wiki link in the article it appears they've had successful legal campaigns against Microsoft and Sony which is impressive. I recommend reading that post as there are some interesting details. Valve better have its act together if it's hoping to win this because Immersion has precedence on its side with winning cases such as this.
I remember when the SIXAXIS controller for PS3 launched without rumble because of the Immersion lawsuit, and then after that sh1t got taken care of, the DualShock 3 came out. I also remembered them going after Microsoft (though I don't remember the details), but I don't recall them having issues with Nintendo. I thought Nintendo and Immersion were cool since the beginning, cuz Nintendo wasn't a f*cking retard like Sony and Microsoft were. I think Nintendo had gotten proper permission from Immersion for their rumble tech.