it’s not the controller itself it’s the modable triggers/bumpers, apparently some dingus at the US patent office granted SCUF the patent rights to that, despite the obvious flaws in that,
just like how Google managed to get patent rights for their “controller”, despite the only “upgrade” was adding “siri”/assistant to it.
But then again, this is the same patent office that allowed a man to patent “swinging on a swing” for his kid, so no surprise.
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What the hell…but we have had modular controllers long before SCUF. I had an early 2000s Logitech which allowed me to pop the joystick section out and fit it with a d-pad section instead, or swap for different orientations. Valve should fight this, it’s just absurd.
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that’s the problem with the patent office they aren’t adhering to their own guidelines like i mentioned above
it must be novel and nonobvious, which means that it must be original and not a trivial or routine advancement on an existing patent
which is why a guy can patent something absurd as swinging on a swing, pockets on pants, and bumpers/shoulder buttons on a controller
-they basically aren’t gatekeeping like they are supposed to and just rubber-stamps “everything”, so you get some of the most absurd patents approvals sometimes, and why patents, regardless of actual production/manufacturing, is big business on its own.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=ridiculous+patents+granted
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It’s disgusting. And these people are paid for a job they aren’t even doing. 
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as i understand it the 2 main issues are the flood of patents, and “patent language”, which deliberately serves to obfuscate the actual patent content and intentions/usage, and thus not “apparent” similarities come up and it can freely get an approval
and i’m also sure that the patent office totally isn’t woefully understaffed and undereducated for their own process 
- since that would completely be a first for a public agency
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How something like this is up to a jury decision also seems pretty naff. You’re saying random average Americans are supposed to be able to tell intricate detail in the function and construction of two consumer products apart without any expertise in any relevant field?
In regards to what is and isn’t an acceptable patent just because one is granted doesn’t mean it is iron clad as far as I understand it. Valve should have been able to point out either previous uses of the idea or demonstrate how it’s an obvious advancement and have the patent itself nullified. This I believe is part of why the patient office don’t even bother to do their job as they can just grant everything and then leave it to the courts to decide later if an issue should arise.
Or I don’t know, this all seems dumb as hell but then most things does these days.
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sums so many unrelated things up too 
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