In February, Valve was ordered to pay $4 million to Ironburg Inventions, the parent company of SCUF Gaming, for infringing on its patents with the Steam controller. Valve claimed that it was warned about infringement after it released a prototype of the controller in 2014, but went ahead with development and release anyway, while Valve argued that the buttons were different from those in Ironburg's patents and that there was no infringement at all.

After the verdict, Valve filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law (essentially, a judge vacating the verdict and entering a new judgment) or a new trial because the jury's findings and damages were "not supported by the evidence." However, in a ruling issued earlier this week (full text available from The Esports Observer), the judge disagreed, saying that sufficient evidence had been presented and that the case was in fact quite straightforward.

"[Valve's] counsel told the jury in his opening statement that 'this is the simplest patent case you can hope to have because all the decisions you have to make in this trial can be made with only two pieces of evidence,' " [Valve's] counsel told the jury, . asked the jury to 'focus' on the two key pieces of evidence that are 'at the heart of this entire trial,' and suggested that if the jury did so and made its decision 'based on reality,' it would have no problem making the right decision at the end of this trial."

"The jury was told to 'focus' on the two key pieces of evidence that were 'at the heart of this entire trial.

"The Court agrees that the case is straightforward and can be decided on the '525 patent and the defendant's device. The jury appears to have done just that, but Defendants do not like the result reached by the jury. Defendant's complaints are not grounds for judgment as a matter of law or a motion for a new trial."

In Valve's favor, the judge denied Ironburg's request for an increase in damages. The judge ruled that the infringement was "commonplace" rather than malicious, such as "piracy" of an invention, and that punitive damages were not justified. [Darius Gambino, an intellectual property attorney with the law firm Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP, told The Esports Observer that, especially since the Steam Controller is being discontinued in 2019, Valve has been awarded damages of He said that Valve may win a judgment that does not allow for enhancement and choose to move on with its life. Valve may end up paying $4 million."

We have reached out to Valve for comment on the ruling and will update if we hear back.