Steam Game Developer Wins ‘Patent Troll’ Trial Over Inventor (1)

Valve Corp., the developer behind popular online gaming platform Steam, won its lawsuit against a prolific inventor and his affiliated entities, brought under a Washington state law meant to combat bad-faith patent assertion.

The jury favored Valve on all counts, according to a minute entry filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. In a separate minute order Tuesday, the court said the jury found for Valve on its claims under Washington’s Patent Troll Prevention Act and Consumer Protection Act, and breach of contract allegations. A redacted verdict form wasn’t initially available.

Valve sued Rothschild and several affiliates in July 2023, alleging they violated the Patent Troll Prevention Act by making bad-faith patent litigation threats over software technology Valve can legally use. Patent troll is an often-pejorative term used to describe entities that file meritless infringement allegations as a way to obtain settlements that are generally less than the cost of litigation.

Rothschild holds hundreds of patents spanning a wide range of inventions, including barcodes and QR codes. He and Valve have a lengthy litigation history.

A Rothschild entity previously sued Valve over a 2016 licensing agreement that the game developer said allows it to use several of Rothschild’s patents. That 2022 suit was later dropped, according to court records.

In the current case, Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled in January that Rothschild and the affiliated entities breached the licensing agreement by suing Valve in 2022, stating the voluntary dismissal didn’t cure the breach. The judge also ruled the state’s Consumer Protection Act allows private suits to enforce the anti-patent troll law.

Rothschild and the affiliates argued in counterclaims that Valve infringed US Patent No. 8,856,221. But they later dropped the allegation in December.

The jury also issued an “advisory verdict” favoring Valve on the invalidaty of a claim in the ‘221 patent, according to the minute order. The court plans to set a case schedule for the remaining disputes, including Valve’s invalidity and unenforceability claims.

Valve and counsel for Rothschild and the affiliates didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and Corr Cronin LLP represent Valve. DNL Zito represents Rothschild and affiliates.

The case is Valve Corporation v. Rothschild, W.D. Wash., No. 2:23-cv-01016, jury verdict filed 2/17/26.