Nvidia: Samsung and Qualcomm infringe GPU patents

Nvidia has filed several patent cases against Samsung and Qualcomm. According to the manufacturer of GPUs, among other things, the two manufacturers infringe a total of seven GPU patents that Nvidia holds. In particular, with socs in mobile products, patents would have been infringed.

The charges against Samsung and Qualcomm have been filed with regulator USITC and a court in the state of Delaware, Cnet writes. Nvidia claims that various Samsung smartphones and tablets, whether or not equipped with Qualcomm-socs or Samsung’s own Exynos-socs, infringe seven patents relating to graphics technology.

According to Nvidia, recent Samsung products, such as the Note Edge, Note 3 and 4, and the Galaxy S4, are subject to the indictment. A number of tablets, such as the Galaxy Tab S, Tab 2 and Note Pro, are also mentioned by Nvidia. The manufacturer claims that the devices and socs violate patents in areas such as GPUs and the use of GPUs for various applications.

It may take several years before the charges actually lead to a case, but Nvidia says it has previously held talks with both Qualcomm and Samsung about paying license fees. Samsung would have referred Nvidia to its suppliers during the talks because it does not consider itself responsible for the alleged patent violations. However, the negotiations would have failed, forcing Nvidia to feel compelled to take legal action.

It is still unclear how much compensation Nvidia will demand from the two companies. There is also a chance that Nvidia will sue even more companies, because the indictments also mention ARM’s Mali and PowerVR GPUs that are housed in numerous socs.