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8 September 2014Patents

Samsung and Qualcomm lined up in graphics patents lawsuit

Computer graphics company Nvidia has sued Samsung and chipmaker Qualcomm, alleging they infringed seven patents.

The Silicon Valley-based company has filed lawsuits at both the US District Court for the District of Delaware and the International Trade Commission (ITC).

According to Nvidia, it is the first time the company has initiated a patent lawsuit in its 21-year history.

It added that it had tried and failed to negotiate a licence for its patents.

The asserted patents include the company’s so-called foundational invention, the graphics processing unit (GPU), which it said puts all the functions needed to process graphics and light up screens on a single chip.

Nvidia has asked the ITC to block shipments of Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets that contain Qualcomm’s Adreno technology as well semiconductor companies ARM Holdings’ Mali and Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR platforms.

“Adreno GPUs are used in Qualcomm’s processors and chipsets. Other processors and chipsets used in Samsung’s accused products use Mali or PowerVR,” Nvidia said in its complaint.

Nvidia has not named ARM Holdings or Imagination Technologies as defendants but said that products using “any one of these three types of GPUs” infringe its patents.

Nvidia has also asked the district court to award it unspecified damages.

Nvidia added: “Without licensing patented GPU technology, Samsung and Qualcomm have chosen to deploy our IP without proper compensation to us. This is inconsistent with our strategy to earn an appropriate return on our investment.

“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.”

Qualcomm and Samsung did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

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