Valve is being sued by Immersion Corporation for allegedly infringing on seven patents relating to touch technology, or haptics, in its Steam Deck and Valve Index hardware. Immersion Corporation, founded in 1993, is a company that had an early history in the development of touchscreen technology, including a partnership with Microsoft, but from the 2000s onwards seems to have become more and more litigious: To the extent it's been described as a "patent troll". It claims to own over 1,650 patents related to haptics, and in the past has sued Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and most recently Meta Platforms.
Immersion Corporation describes itself as "the leading developer and provider of technologies for haptics" and has filed suit in Washington district court. The suit says Valve's infringed seven of its patents and Immersion is looking to have it enjoined from further infringement and, the important part, "to recover a reasonable royalty for such infringement".
