NVIDIA Files Complaints For GPU Patent Infringement Against Samsung and Qualcomm
NVIDIA has announced that it has filed complaints against Samsung and Qualcomm stating that both companies are infringing on NVIDIA GPU patents. The complaints were filed at the International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court in Deleware. NVIDIA states that the patents being infringed cover technology that includes programmable shading, unified shaders, and multithreaded parallel processing.
“Our patented GPU inventions provide significant value to mobile devices,” said NVIDIA ceo Jen-Hsun Huang. “Samsung and Qualcomm have chosen to use these in their products without a license from us. We are asking the courts to determine infringement of NVIDIA’s GPU patents by all graphics architectures used in Samsung’s mobile products and to establish their licensing value.”
A list of Samsung products that NVIDIA claims to make use of its patented technologies include the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S5Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note Edge, and Galaxy Note 3 mobile phones as well as the Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Tab 2, and Galaxy Note Pro tablets. NVIDIA claims that the majority of these devices incorporate Qualcomm mobile processers such as the Snapdragon S4, 400, 600, 800, 801, and 805.
NVIDIA is going so far as to ask the ITC to block shipments of Samsung Galaxy mobile phones and tablets containing Qualcomm’s ARM’s Mali, Adreno, or Imagination’s PowerVR graphics architecture. The company is also asking that the Delaware Court award damages to NVIDIA for patent infringement.
According to NVIDIA executive vice-president David Shannon, the GPU manufacturer said that its licensing team tried to negotiate with Samsung but to no avail and were told that it’s the suppliers’ problem.
“Without licensing NVIDIA’s patented GPU technology, Samsung and Qualcomm have chosen to deploy our IP without proper compensation to us,” Shannon said.” This is inconsistent with our strategy to earn an appropriate return on our investment.
He added, “We are now seeking the courts’ judgment to confirm the validity, infringement, and value of our patents so that we can reach agreement with Samsung and its graphics suppliers.”
