Immersion Corporation have a history of taking on companies and winning, with Valve being the latest in the firing line over Immersion's patents. The patents involved are 7,336,260, 8,749,507, 9,430,042, 9,116,546, 10,627,907, 10,665,067, and 11,175,738.
They're pretty notorious for this going after Xiaomi, Meta (Facebook), Sony, Microsoft and more in the past. Most companies just seem to partner up with them now and license their stuff.
From the press release:
“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.”
I have reached out to Valve Press, to see if they have any statement to share on this.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
And of course they wait two years to sue so that the 'damage' is worthwhile. Disgusting parasites...
Quoting: PenglingA fellow GOL'er showed me this a couple of days ago: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/save-dollardollardollar-on-the-rog-ally-by-resetting-and-trading-in-your-steam-deck-gaming-handheld/ar-AA1b4Wka
Am I the only one that thinks that the headline sounds like a typical scam email? “Save $$$ on…” – delete.
slaapliedje May 18, 2023
Quoting: elmapulthos *** holes are still implying you cant use GFN on a steam deck.Ha, Geforce Now even works on the Atari VCS...
Valve should also remove haptic modules from their products, they add nothing of value.
Last edited by thykr on 18 May 2023 at 4:33 pm UTC
Quoting: SethMThis seems slightly iffy, but I'm sure it will work itself out. And worse case, Valve will probably have to pay a fine, which, let's be honest, isn't really going to hurt them.
this is a civil case so there will be no fines, if Valve is deemed guilty then they will have to pay whatever that Immersion says is their license fee for every single unit of Steam Decks sold. It could easily be billions.
Immersion also want the court to forbid Valve from selling more Steam Decks and Index:es.
Last edited by F.Ultra on 18 May 2023 at 6:55 pm UTC
Mohandevir May 18, 2023
Quoting: F.UltraImmersion also want the court to forbid Valve from selling more Steam Decks and Index:es.
There. You have it. Everything happens at the same time. Asus releases the Ally with a big marketing push from Asus and Microsoft for a garbage experience handheld and Immersion patent trolls Valve to stop them from selling the Steam Deck. You'll tell me it's not all coordinated?
They know it's impossible to beat the Steam Deck. Microsoft wants to burry it and probably kill the handheld market.
Afterall, for MS, gaming = Xbox, not PC.
That's what I think.
Edit: If they succeed in killing the Steam Deck, the Ally II will not be sold at 700$ and it's going to be the end of handhelds. They are probably selling it at a loss because of M$ money.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 18 May 2023 at 10:19 pm UTC
Quoting: F.UltraImmersion also want the court to forbid Valve from selling more Steam Decks and Index:es.They want Valve to be prohibited unless they pay the tithe. Some fee on the units they've sold to date is much less attractive than the fee on the (15? maybe?) millions of future units, plus the fees on Deck 2/Index 2/Controller 2 in the future. They want to just kick back and collect rent; the threat of an injunction is the stick to make everyone get a licence.
slaapliedje May 19, 2023
Quoting: CatKillerThis is where I'm a firm believer that the patent system needs to be changed so that if you are not making a physical product based upon a patent you have filed away, then you lose claims to that patent and it becomes public domain. It's that way for Trademarks, basically.Quoting: F.UltraImmersion also want the court to forbid Valve from selling more Steam Decks and Index:es.They want Valve to be prohibited unless they pay the tithe. Some fee on the units they've sold to date is much less attractive than the fee on the (15? maybe?) millions of future units, plus the fees on Deck 2/Index 2/Controller 2 in the future. They want to just kick back and collect rent; the threat of an injunction is the stick to make everyone get a licence.
Quoting: GuestI think the time is over to think of MS as the pure evil in a company form.NO M$ is pure evil in a company form why do you think you can not remove telemetry or disable auto updates without hacking the system this is getting into a rant about why I HATE !!! M$ embrace extend extinguish today's M$ is the same M$ as old pure evil
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