British Telecom files lawsuit targeting Valve for patent infringement

Valve’s had no shortage of legal troubles of late, including a pair of lawsuits earlier this year alleging that the company knowingly allowed the operation of unregulated gambling sites featuring its games. Now a new, unrelated suit alleges that Steam infringes upon four patents held by British Telecommunications.

British Telecom says the technologies powering such diverse features as the Steam Library, Steam Chat, Steam Messaging, and Steam Broadcasting all infringe upon previously held patents, and alleges that Valve has refused to attempt to reach an amicable solution. The telecommunications giant is represented by a New York City law firm known as Proskauer Rose.

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This report comes via ESPN, who quote British Telecom’s representatives as saying "BT brings this action to recover the just compensation it is owed for Valve's past infringement, and to prevent Valve from continuing to benefit from the patented inventions in the future without authorization or compensation to BT."

It seems British Telecom is far too established a company for anyone to dismiss these claims out of hand. It will be interesting to see how this legal battle takes shape over the course of the months ahead.