Ironburg Inventions is the IP holder for SCUF, a controller manufacturer. According to the plagiarism lawsuit against Valve, SCUF patented a controller with rear-facing side buttons in 2014. Then, the prototype for Valve’s Steam Controller was unveiled with the same rear-facing side buttons the following January, even though the company had warned Valve about the patent. The lawsuit alleged that Ironburg continued warning Valve about the patent and even wrote a letter detailing the infringement to the company - which Valve simply ignored.
Patents are so fucking stupid. This is the second most obvious one I know of (the first being random encounter via nintendo)
Huh, I knew that was the patent in question (though I thought it was Sony that held the patent), I just didn’t think the original Steam Controller had rear buttons.
https://screenrant.com/valve-steam-controller-lawsuit-controversy-patent-ironburg-inventions/
Patents are so fucking stupid. This is the second most obvious one I know of (the first being random encounter via nintendo)
Huh, I knew that was the patent in question (though I thought it was Sony that held the patent), I just didn’t think the original Steam Controller had rear buttons.
Yes they’re very nice.
Insane that “button” can be a patent
Wow I wasn’t aware of the history, patent law is nebulous bullshit.