Valve denied new trial following Steam Controller lawsuit loss

Valve's Steam Controller has been discontinued for quite some time now, but it popped back up in headlines earlier this year when a judge ruled that Valve had committed patent infringement with the controller's design, ordering Valve to pay $4 million to custom gamepad company, SCUF. Valve tried to request a new trial to get the ruling reversed, but this request has since been denied. 

SCUF, a well-known custom controller company that was acquired by CORSAIR in 2019, has won a legal case against Valve. SCUF argued that the back paddle buttons on the Steam Controller violated one of its patents. A jury agreed and US Judge, Thomas Zilly, fined Valve $4 million for the infringement.

Valve filed a motion requesting a new trial or a new ruling, claiming that the jury's verdict was “unsupported by the evidence”. Unfortunately for Valve, the Judge disagreed, denying the motion for a new trial. As reported by The Esports Observer, this is what the judge had to say:

“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 could appeal again and drag this lawsuit out for longer. However, no further action has been announced at this time.

KitGuru Says: Valve has since moved on from its original Steam Controller and is prototyping new designs, including one controller called ‘Neptune', which appears to be linked to the SteamPal handheld gaming PC project. 

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