When it comes to ever-developing tech, there are two ways to handle so-called patent trolls. You can do what most companies do, which is to write a hefty check for the annoying person challenging your ideas to go away, and get back to work. Or you can do what Valve just did, which is spend millions of dollars to systematically dismantle a man’s entire career and leave him personally liable for damages in what reads as the legal equivalent of “f**k around and find out.”
As of earlier this week, Leigh Rothschild, the man who has spent decades filing over 1200 lawsuits against everyone from Apple to small businesses, just did the “finding out.” A jury in Seattle sided with Valve and agreed that Rothschild violated the Washington Patent Troll Protection Act (PTPA).
This win is a massive middle finger to the industry’s most prolific litigator, and it serves as a reminder to everyone: Do not mess with Gabe Newell.
A Peace Treaty that went ignored
(Image credit: Windows Central)
To understand how delicious this victory is, we have to go back to 2016. Back then, Valve did what everyone else does with this guy: they settled a dispute with Rothschild. They entered into a Global Settlement and License Agreement (GSLA).
Today I learned that a GSLA is basically a fancy way of saying that Valve gave Rothschild a big pile of “go away” money. In exchange, Rothschild gave Valve a “perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license” to his entire patent portfolio. It was a peace treaty of sorts. Valve effectively bought the right to never be sued by this man or his dozens of shell companies again.
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For six years, it worked for them, but in 2022, Rothschild’s companies started spamming Valve’s legal team with marketing emails basically saying they had fresh new patents, and did Valve want to buy a licence? Valve, knowing they already had a license to literally everything the man owned, ignored the emails.
So, Rothschild did his thing and er… sued them.
Rothschild vs Valve and the Patent Troll Protection Act
(Image credit: Windows Central)
A Rothschild-owned shell company called Display Technologies sued Valve in September 2022, claiming the Steam Deck (and Steam in general) infringed on a patent for “displaying content.” You can read more on the patent here and pretend you know what you are looking at…
Valve’s lawyers likely had a good laugh before emailing Rothschild’s team a copy of their own 2016 contract, which covered this and other patents. It should have ended there, but it didn’t; the Rothschilds’ lawyers refused to drop the case until they were practically dragged out of court, eventually dismissing it “with prejudice”. Lawyer words for “you messed up, and you can’t bring this specific claim ever again.”
But Valve wasn’t satisfied with a dismissal and sought to set an example by suing Rothschild under the Patent Troll Protection Act (PTPA) for breaching the original 2016 contract.
The PTPA targets individuals or companies that simply collect and enforce patents without actually using them to create anything, making money through litigation instead (exactly what Rothschild and his entities have been doing). Rothschild claimed that Valve, as a private company,y could not sue under this act and it was simply a private contract dispute; however, the judge in the case ruled Valve’s case was valid as patent trolling is a matter of “vital public interest.t”
Valve then sues Rothschild, and years later has won
#Valve has just won a $152K jury verdict against an inventor named Leigh Rothschild and his former attorney under an anti-patent-troll law in the State of Washington. They don’t need the money and litigation costs were higher anyway. It’s about deterring bad-faith assertions.February 18, 2026
So, Valve sued back in 2023, drama ensued, and the case has been going on ever since. It’s worth noting, too, that Valve was suing Rothschild personally rather than one of his many tiny LLCs.
Most patent trolls use a “shell game” strategy. They create dozens of tiny LLCs with no assets. If an LLC loses a case, it just goes bankrupt, and the troll walks away with their personal wealth untouched. Valve’s lawyers, knowing this, went for the jugular by suing Leigh Rothschild himself.
This week, the jury delivered the final verdict that $152k is now due from Rothschild to Valve. A small amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but it sets an important precedent. Because this decision has been made under the PTPA, it clearly indicates that Rothschild’s claims are in bad faith.
Valve didn’t have to do this. They could have settled for a fraction of what they spent on lawyers, and it would have cost them much more than the puny $152k ruling. But the team at Valve clearly decided that enough was enough.
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By fighting this all the way to a jury, they’ve set a precedent. They’ve proven that not only will contract breakers be punished, but playing the shell game will no longer work. If you use LLCs to harass companies, the court can still hold you personally liable.
GG, Valve. Well played.
Let us know what you think
Valve just flipped the script on a prolific patent troll and walked away with $152K — a rare outcome in an industry where trolls usually drain time and money from everyone else.
Have you dealt with patent‑troll nonsense in your own field, or do you think more companies should push back like this? Drop your thoughts below and let’s talk about it.
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