Valvegame developer and publisher, who is also at the helm of PC game distribution platform Steam, has won a lawsuit against Leigh Rothschild et al. One of the most respected entities in gaming, Valve has been responsible for some of the industry's most respected properties since its inception in 1996.
Valve's litany of popular franchises includes Half-life, Team strength, Left 4 Deadand Portal. The company also released DOTA 2, sequel to the 2003 fan title Defense of the Ancients which helped popularize the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) subgenre. In addition to its development and publishing work, Valve is also the company behind Steam, the incredibly successful platform for distributing PC games. Valve has also produced a wide range of hardware devices since its inception, including the company's portable Steam Deck, which allows players to access much of their Steam library via a handheld device. The upcoming Steam Machine promises to bring a similar experience to living rooms, giving gamers the ability to play their PC titles in living rooms via a Steam-powered home console.
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Valve has won its lawsuit against Leigh Rothschild
Valve experienced a major victory in its 2023 lawsuit against Leigh Rothschild, his attorney, and their affiliates. According to court documents in the case, a judge ruled that Rothschild and his company violated both Washington's Patent Troll Prevention Act and the Consumer Protection Act while also breaching their contract with Valve. The lawsuit, centered around the US8856221B2 patent, comes after years of strenuous legal action between the two entities, and Valve's success could set a big precedent for other companies in similar court cases.
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An inventor and head of many companies, Rothschild holds several patents, both granted and pending. The US8856221B2 patent in question is listed as a “system and method for storing broadcast content in a cloud computing environment.” In 2016, Valve entered into an agreement with Leigh Rothschild and Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems (RBDS), his company and the holder of said patent. Despite holding a “perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid-up, worldwide license” to this patent and others owned by Rothschild, Valve was sued by Rothschild for patent infringement in 2022. Rothschild again took legal action against the creator of the Steam Deck in 2023, with another suit specifically targeting the use of the Val221B82 patent.56
Valve responded to this legal action by filing its own lawsuit against Rothschild himself, RBDS and several of his other companies, along with attorney Samuel Meyler and Meyler Legal LLC. That lawsuit alleged that Rothschild, his attorney, and affiliates acted in bad faith when they took legal action against Valve, with a judge ruling in favor of the developer on all of its claims. The decision sets a new precedent in patent lawsuits, as Valve has taken major action against not only RBDS, but Rothschild himself, claiming that his many companies serve as “alter egos” for inventors. This violation of Washington's patent troll prevention and consumer protection laws focuses attention on the person responsible and prevents the ruling from focusing on any “shell” company Rothschild may own.
The ruling may allow other companies to more effectively target “patent trolls” — individuals or companies who own numerous patents without intending to use them, instead profiting from poor litigation against those who use methods and technologies they have patented. Since patents play such a significant role in the gaming world, this could prevent the industry from being flooded with these dishonest individuals who are simply trying to cash in on the work of others.
Source: PC Gamer
