Nvidia Corp, a company that brags its pioneered visual computing, has been accused by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of infringing a number of its semiconductor-related patents. Nvidia has patented thousands of inventions and has allowed fluid viewing of graphics and images. Further, Nvidia is accused of making false claims about its products. Samsung is counter-suing after Nvidia filed a lawsuit against Samsung in September 2014.
The Korean technology giant filed its lawsuit on Monday in order to seek damages for the deliberate infringement of a number of technical patents, which included a few that manage the way in which semiconductors buffer and use data. Samsung has accused Nvidia of false advertising for the advertisement the world’s fastest mobile processor, the Tegra, in its “Shield” tablet. Samsung argued that studies performed by researchers at Primate Labs are proving the claim of fastest processor as false.
Nvidia originally accused the Asian company and rival Qualcomm Inc of infringing patents on its graphics-processing unit (GPU), which sparked Samsung’s counter-suing claim. GPUs are electronic circuits in tablet and smartphone mobile processors that allow graphics and images to be processed as quickly and smoothly as possible. Nvidia claimed and won the patent dispute with Samsung in a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC). The ITC has continued to investigate claims that Samsung is using the graphics technology without licensing it properly.
Nvidia stated on Tuesday, the day after the filing of the Samsung lawsuit: “We’ll review and respond to these new claims against us, and look forward to presenting our case on how Nvidia GPU patents are being used without a license.” Nvidia also argued that a benchmarking study supported its claim that the Tegra was the fastest mobile processor on the market.
Regardless of the outcome of these two lawsuit battles, it is fair to say the two rival companies may continue to act against one another. Both claims seem reasonable, but there are always two sides to every story. It will be interesting to see the outcome and whether the rival continues.