Immersion Corporation is an

Aventura, Florida Aventura is a planned, suburban city in northeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, 17 miles north of the city of Miami and part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city is especially well-known for Aventura Mall, the 5th largest ...

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 ...

. 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 central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

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

* In 1993, Immersion was founded by Louis Rosenberg, who served as its

until 2000. * In 1997, Immersion worked with Microsoft to integrate their Immersion's TouchSense technology into Microsoft's

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 5.0. Microsoft and Immersion continued to work together on DirectX 6 and 7, and signed an agreement in 1999 to share each other's "feel simulation technology". * In November 1999, the company went public. Shares were offered at $12.00. * In March 2000, Immersion acquired Haptic Technologies for $7 million, gaining their patent portfolio. * In March 2000, Immersion acquired Immersion Medical for an undisclosed amount, gaining their patent portfolio. * In September 2000, Immersion acquired Virtual Technologies for $1 million, gaining their patent portfolio. * By 2014, Immersion Corporation gained over 1,650 issued or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries in the haptic field. * February 2016: Immersion claims Apple has infringed two patents on the iPhone 6s and new Apple Watch. The CEO of Immersion is seeking compensation from Apple and an injunction on US sales. * January 2017: Immersion has a multi-year partnership with

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

to use its haptic technology on the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

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., (file no. 3835815) doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebook, Insta ...

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

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