Immersion Corporation is an

Aventura, Florida Aventura is a planned suburban city in northeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, north of Miami and part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city is especially known for Aventura Mall, the third largest mall in the United State ...

based developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, also known as

haptic technology Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to create virtual objects in a computer s ...

. Immersion Corporation has been accused of being a

patent troll In international law and business, patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or ...

. Founded in 1993 by Louis Rosenberg, it is currently headed by lawyer Francis Jose, who serves as both

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

History

Immersion Corporation was founded in 1993 by Louis Rosenberg, who served as CEO until 2000. The company emerged as a pioneer in

, which simulates tactile feedback through vibrations or forces. In 1997, Immersion partnered with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

to integrate its TouchSense technology into the

DirectInput In computing, DirectInput is a legacy Microsoft API for collecting input from a computer user, via input devices such as the mouse, keyboard, or a gamepad. It also provides a system for ''action mapping,'' which allows the user to assign specif ...

API for

DirectX Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct" ...

5.0, enhancing force feedback capabilities for gaming and input devices. Collaboration between the two companies continued with DirectX 6 and 7, and in 1999, they signed an agreement to share "feel simulation technology," further embedding Immersion’s innovations into Microsoft’s platforms. In March 1999, the company acquired Cybernet Haptic Systems from Cybernet Systems Corporation, bolstering its patent portfolio through a combination of stock and cash. Later that year, in November, Immersion became a publicly traded company, debuting on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

at $12.00 per share. In 2000 were three key acquisitions: Haptic Technologies ($7 million) and Immersion Medical (undisclosed amount) in March, followed by Virtual Technologies ($1 million) in September. By 2014, the company had amassed over 1,650 issued or pending patents worldwide related to haptic technology. In February 2016, it accused

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

of infringing two patents in the iPhone 6s and

Apple Watch The Apple Watch is a brand of smartwatch products developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple. It incorporates activity tracker, fitness tracking, Health (Apple), health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates wit ...

, with CEO Victor Viegas seeking damages and a U.S. sales injunction. In January 2017, Immersion entered a multi-year licensing agreement with

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

, enabling the use of its haptic technology in the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

’s HD Rumble feature.

Litigation

Sony and Microsoft

In 2002, Immersion filed a suit against Microsoft and Sony alleging that their game console controllers were infringing on two of Immersion's patents, which were extensions of , itself filed 1998 by Virtual Technologies Inc which Immersion later acquired.; both defendants eventually reached agreements with Immersion that involved multimillion-dollar payments.

Meta Platforms

In May 2022, Immersion sued

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...

for patent infringement relating to the use of vibration functions in their gaming controllers.

Valve

In May 2023, Immersion sued

Valve Corporation Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, video game publisher, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution pl ...

for patent infringement relating to the use of vibration functions in their Steam Deck and

Valve Index The Valve Index is a virtual reality headset created and manufactured by Valve Corporation, Valve. Announced on April 30, 2019, the headset was released on June 28 of the same year. The Index is a second-generation headset and the first to be f ...

gaming hardware.

References

External links

* 1999 initial public offerings Companies based in Miami-Dade County, Florida Companies listed on the Nasdaq Electronics companies of the United States {{tech-company-stub