The Latest On Nvidia's Patent Dispute with Samsung
Nvidia had provided an update on the recent developments related to the company's patent dispute against Samsung, as the company countersued Samsung. Back in September, in the first IP lawsuit Nvidia has initiated, the company sued Samsung and Qualcomm in the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court in Delaware allegging that they used Nvidia's GPU patents without providing fair compensations.
The case in the ITC is scheduled for hearing in late June 2015, and Nvidia got a positive sign earlier this month in a pretrial decision – known as a Markman ruling – in which the presiding judge ruled in favor of NVIDIA’s preferred construction of nearly all of the disputed language in our claims. In this case, Nvidia is asking the U.S. to block imports of certain Galaxy phones and tablets – including Samsung’s newly shipping Galaxy S6 and Edge – into the U.S.
Samsung had subsequently sued Nvidia in the ITC, as well as in U.S. District Court in Virginia – known for its very fast time to trial.
Two things have happened in recent days that are worth being aware of.
First, Nvidia has now countersued Samsung in the U.S. District Court in Virginia, citing four graphics patents beyond the seven cited in the ITC and Delaware cases. (The four patents are described in our latest filing here.) These newly asserted patents in Nvidia's countersuit are scheduled to be decided at the same time as Samsung’s case against us.
And, second, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne has set a date of Jan. 11, 2016, for the trial to begin in Virginia. This will focus on Samsung’s asserted six patents against NVIDIA, and two patents against our customer Velocity Micro, as well as on Nvidia's four patents asserted against Samsung.