Nvidia Corp lost the first round of its royalty dispute against Samsung Electronics Co and Qualcomm Inc after a US trade judge said there was no violation of the graphics chipmaker’s patent rights.
Elements of two patents are invalid, and a third is not infringed, US International Trade Commission judge Thomas Pender said in a notice on Friday.
The judge’s findings are subject to review by the six-member commission, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe US patents.
Nvidia has said it filed the complaint after two years of failed patent-licensing talks. It is counting on the threat of an import ban on Samsung mobile phones and tablets to forge an agreement.
“We remain confident in our case,” Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez said.
He said the ruling was only the initial phase in the case and it now goes to the whole commission for review.
The commission is expected to announce its next steps in about two months, and is scheduled to issue its final decision by Feb. 10.
The case is over chip innovations that make graphics processing units, or GPUs, more efficient and more capable of supporting complex functions for smartphone and tablet users, such as video gaming and playing movies.
Nvidia is seeking to block imports of the latest Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets that use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon graphics processing units or Samsung’s Exynos processors, saying they infringe its patents. The Samsung products targeted in the complaint include the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5 phones, and the Galaxy Tab S and Galaxy Note Pro tablet computers.
Samsung retaliated with its own patent infringement claims against Nvidia, along with the chipmaker’s customers, at the trade agency. A trial in that case, which involves computer memory technology, was held in August and the judge is scheduled to issue his findings on Dec. 22.
Nvidia is trying to branch out into technology licensing, looking for a greater return on in its investments in graphics chip research and design.
By going after Samsung, Nvidia is trying to demonstrate to other potential licensees that its intellectual property has value and they need to pay for it.
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