NVIDIA Stares at Sales Ban as US-ITC Rules in Samsung's Favor in Patent Dispute

[btarunr]

The ongoing patent dispute between NVIDIA and Samsung over mobile SoC patents, in which NVIDIA fired the first shot, is not going to well for team-green. With Samsung counter-suing NVIDIA over infringing its own bouquet of patents, NVIDIA is staring at a possible sales ban. A United States International Trade Commission (US-ITC) judge held that NVIDIA is violating at least three Samsung patents.

This decision is due for review in a few months from now. If upheld, NVIDIA is staring at a sales-ban on all products violating the three Samsung patents. Luckily for NVIDIA, one of the three patents expires in 2016, and the sales-ban could last a few months, at best. NVIDIA predictably stated that it is disappointed in the decision. Samsung hasn't commented.



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[FordGT90Concept]

I'm so happy patents expire in 20 years or less.

 

[john_]

Let's see. The troll tries to make everyone having a computer, tablet, smartphone, smartwatch, whatever to pay royalties for INVALID patents. Let's not forget than Nvidia started talking about 7 patents and by the time the ruling came out only 3 had remained. So the other four where probably withdraw in the process.

Samsung on the other hand leaves their VALID patents to collect dust (Nvidia's own words).

I think anyone can see the huge difference in morality between these two companies.

Nvidia is going from bad to worst and I wish they go bankrupt, or better, come to their senses and start thinking again about the customer, like they used to do more than 10 years ago. Today they only care for their shareholders and no one else.

And before you say that all companies seek the maximum profits for them and their shareholders and that they have no morality, well, probably, but it is obvious that Samsung and Nvidia are at totally different levels here. Samsung didn't care to start chasing royalties for valid patents. Nvidia waited for the GPU to get in every device and then tried to make every citizen on this planet to pay royalties for using a computer of any kind.

 

[xvi]

Kind of glad they got bit for this. Are these all "rectangle with rounded corners" kinds of patents?

 

[the54thvoid]

Let's see. The troll tries to make everyone having a computer, tablet, smartphone, smartwatch, whatever to pay royalties for INVALID patents. Let's not forget than Nvidia started talking about 7 patents and by the time the ruling came out only 3 had remained. So the other four where probably withdraw in the process.

Samsung on the other hand leaves their VALID patents to collect dust (Nvidia's own words).

I think anyone can see the huge difference in morality between these two companies.

Nvidia is going from bad to worst and I wish they go bankrupt, or better, come to their senses and start thinking again about the customer, like they used to do more than 10 years ago. Today they only care for their shareholders and no one else.

And before you say that all companies seek the maximum profits for them and their shareholders and that they have no morality, well, probably, but it is obvious that Samsung and Nvidia are at totally different levels here. Samsung didn't care to start chasing royalties for valid patents. Nvidia waited for the GPU to get in every device and then tried to make every citizen on this planet to pay royalties for using a computer of any kind.

Just a heads up, Samsung is a patent troll too. And also I think (someone can do the googling) complicit in IP theft. They're all as bad as each other.
What continually surprises me is why manufacturing companies continually launch these suits they never seem to win?
Regardless, turn your hatred instead to the private equity firms that simply snap up IP and then take in cash suing left, right and centre.

 

[Xzibit]

Just a heads up, Samsung is a patent troll too. And also I think (someone can do the googling) complicit in IP theft. They're all as bad as each other.
What continually surprises me is why manufacturing companies continually launch these suits they never seem to win?
Regardless, turn your hatred instead to the private equity firms that simply snap up IP and then take in cash suing left, right and centre.

There is a certain irony to this though

Samsung didn't care to sue Nvidia but Nvidia went all "We invented the GPU" we will protect our IP. Now that it lost its suit and got a patent invalidated is singing a different tune, "Samsung doesn't even use those patents". There still Samsungs though not theirs and just like Nvidia started stating they will protect their IP Samsung was forced by Nvidia to do the same. Probably just to prove a point too.

 

[bug]

Business as usual. Company A sues company B for patent infringement. Company B counter-sues. Company A gets close to getting a sales ban on some of the asserted patents. Company B gets close to getting a sales ban in return. Companies A and B sign an agreement and everyone is happy.
Nothing to see here people, move along.

 

[Frick]

Nvidia is going from bad to worst and I wish they go bankrupt, or better, come to their senses and start thinking again about the customer, like they used to do more than 10 years ago. Today they only care for their shareholders and no one else.

Elaborate. I'm pretty sure they always had a responsibility to their shareholders.

And man, people have no idea how to treat the term "patent-troll", do they?

 

[Xzibit]

Business as usual. Company A sues company B for patent infringement. Company B counter-sues. Company A gets close to getting a sales ban on some of the asserted patents. Company B gets close to getting a sales ban in return. Companies A and B sign an agreement and everyone is happy.
Nothing to see here people, move along.

Except Nvidia lost their suit

TPU NEWS - NVIDIA Loses Patent Infringement Claim Lawsuit to Samsung

Samsung is in no way obligated to play nice now that Nvidia poked them

 

[Chaitanya]

I hope those asswits at nVidia's legal department have gotten the bite in rear side that won't attempt to be go around trolling anyone else now. All the nVidia cases were dropped by courts and ITC and now ruling in favour of Samsung is a big blow to them.

 

[HumanSmoke]

I think anyone can see the huge difference in morality between these two companies.

Riiiiiiiiight. Whatever. Samsung's record leaves everybody in the dust. Maybe you should read up on them...
Tax evasion, bribery and price-fixing: How Samsung became the giant that ate Korea

And before you say that all companies seek the maximum profits for them and their shareholders and that they have no morality, well, probably, but it is obvious that Samsung and Nvidia are at totally different levels here.

10/10 for hyperbole. Nvidia's patent litigation is equal to Samsung's proven bribery of government, judges, and government prosecutors, price fixing, and of course, their latest business endeavour -bid rigging ?
It's all good though - get caught, bribe the judiciary and...
Korean lawmaker who exposed Samsung corruption forced from office
Nice to see someone sticking up for the omnipotent conglomerate. I guess you'll be rooting for Qualcomm to beat their anti-trust raps as well.

Nvidia are far from angels, but to suggest that they are anywhere close to Samsung's league in some extremist fanboy shit.

 

[the54thvoid]

Nvidia are far from angels, but to suggest that they are anywhere close to Samsung's league in some extremist fanboy shit.

Yar, thar be some blinkered posts in this thread but its always nice to tag NV as the most evil company in history. Despite the leagues of corporate shame far above them.

That being said, I am unequivocally NOT defending NV. They're getting bitten back but they are being bitten by an exceptionally 'manipulative' corporation.

 

[HumanSmoke]

Yar, thar be some blinkered posts in this thread but its always nice to tag NV as the most evil company in history. Despite the leagues of corporate shame far above them.

Just goes to show that the mere mention of a name gets the Pavlovian response - kind of like anyone mentioning Tottenham Hotspur to me in a context not containing an insult.
Samsung are at the pinnacle of disgusting business behavior (their latest $157m slap on the hand won't even ruffle the account books), but they have some serious rivals in Asia that make Intel's past shenanigans look like kindergarten antics.

That being said, I am unequivocally NOT defending NV. They're getting bitten back but they are being bitten by an exceptionally 'manipulative' corporation.

They will definitely be thinking twice next time they decide to initiate litigation, that's for sure! I guess we'll find out next year what that particular roll of the dice ends up costing them. Sounds like one of the three patents (one likely tossed, one due to expire) will have some relevance if the judgement goes against them.

 

[john_]

extremist fanboy shit.

In this part I know you are talking about yourself.

As for the rest of the post you do have some points, but I do see this legal story from the GPU consumer view and from that view, Nvidia is a threat to every consumer of products having a GPU inside.

Elaborate. I'm pretty sure they always had a responsibility to their shareholders.

In the past Nvidia - pro GF 8000 series - was much more open and was producing hardware that was great value. Today we have closed proprietary techs that try to seal the market and keep competition out, the GTX 970 lies, the GT 630/GT730/and now GT930 confusion where Fermi,Kepler,Maxwell,128bit,64bit,DDR3 and GDDR5 are sold under the same product name(people deleted Kingston from their map for the V300 fiasco, what can we say about the GT 930 mess?) and all this story with Nvidia trying to put a tax on every electronic device which can send a picture on a screen. The worst thing you could read about Nvidia 10 years ago was cheating on 3DMark. Today you can accuse them for so many things.

 

[the54thvoid]

the GT 630/GT730/and now GT930 confusion where Fermi,Kepler,Maxwell,128bit,64bit,DDR3 and GDDR5 are sold under the same product name

I wouldn't use 'rebranding' as proof of NV's evils.... That's not going to wash well.

Conversely, you aren't singing praise for Nvidia slipping a Maxwell product into the Kepler line up (7 series cards were Kepler but the 750 was Maxwell).

Again, to defend me from idiots, I'm not defending NV's arrogance at lawsuit slanging matches. They deserve what they get but what I do not like is illogical arguments for 'proof of concept' posts.

 

[john_]

I wouldn't use 'rebranding' as proof of NV's evils.... That's not going to wash well.

It's much worst than rebranding. In the case of rebranding you do know what you will get. It will say R9 370, which was an R9 265, and also an HD 7850, but YOU KNOW HOW IT PERFORMS. No matter the name it will perform as a card at it's price range. no tricks there. You DO get what you payed for.

In the case of GT 930 you get a random combination of the above specs and you don't know how it will perform. You will have to dig into the specs and see about GPU architecture, memory type and speed, and how wide the data bus is. Funny how you don't see ANY difference, but OK you don't defend Nvidia.

Conversely, you aren't singing praise for Nvidia slipping a Maxwell product into the Kepler line up (7 series cards were Kepler but the 750 was Maxwell).

Because you know all the posts I have done the last 3 years. Maybe you are GOD?

Again, to defend me from idiots, I'm not defending NV's arrogance at lawsuit slanging matches. They deserve what they get but what I do not like is illogical arguments for 'proof of concept' posts.

No, you are defending YOUR arrogance by stating all the time the same thing while attacking whoever is not going soft on Nvidia with this one. Spare me the BS.

 

[the54thvoid]

It's much worst than rebranding. In the case of rebranding you do know what you will get. It will say R9 370, which was an R9 265, and also an HD 7850, but YOU KNOW HOW IT PERFORMS. No matter the name it will perform as a card at it's price range. no tricks there. You DO get what you payed for.

In the case of GT 930 you get a random combination of the above specs and you don't know how it will perform. You will have to dig into the specs and see about GPU architecture, memory type and speed, and how wide the data bus is. Funny how you don't see ANY difference, but OK you don't defend Nvidia.

Because you know all the posts I have done the last 3 years. Maybe you are GOD?

No, you are defending YOUR arrogance by stating all the time the same thing while attacking whoever is not going soft on Nvidia with this one. Spare me the BS.

Merry Christmas.

 

[john_]

Merry Christmas.

Best wishes to you too

 

[the54thvoid]

Best wishes to you too

Hugs all round. Please understand, I genuinely don't condone NV's business practice. But at the same time, as much as I hate Apples market and employment strategy, Samsung are just as bad. So when we compare two companies with questionable practises, I think Samsung is worse. Okay, from a GPU consumer perspective, I can see the angle but really, let's not get hot under the collar over another nonsense patent suit.

 

[john_]

Hugs all round. Please understand, I genuinely don't condone NV's business practice. But at the same time, as much as I hate Apples market and employment strategy, Samsung are just as bad. So when we compare two companies with questionable practises, I think Samsung is worse. Okay, from a GPU consumer perspective, I can see the angle but really, let's not get hot under the collar over another nonsense patent suit.

Never consider whatever I say as personal insults to you. I don't know you personally. It's just the heat in the, whatever debate, is running in a thread, for whatever matter(plus the lack of good enough knowledge of the English language, which in the end limits expression).

The problem with Nvidia is not if they are worst than Samsung. The problem is that they are trying really really hard to become much worst than any Samsung, or Siemens. I am mentioning Siemens because it does seems like they hold the crown of the company with the most questionable practices in Greece, with the majority of people probably believing that they have bribe every politician and political party in this country the last decades. In every country or market there is always a company that it is considered as the one with the most questionable practices. In GPU market and in my opinion Nvidia is going for a record.

 

[Frick]

Merry Christmas.

Click

Anyway. I do agree with the X30 thing, that is just ridiculous. OTOH AMD has released the same cards for years as well (because of the process nodes obviously). All the "good guys" died a long time ago.

Anyway, part deux: How would this work, if they're not allowed to sell stuff for a spell? The stores already have the cards, can they sell them, or is it just Nvidia who can't sell chips anymore? What about the OEM's?

 

[john_]

Nvidia wouldn't have a problem. Their partners that make graphics cards or sell products with Nvidia GPUs inside will probably do. But I think Nvidia will just apologize to Samsung and call it a misunderstanding. Nvidia needs Samsung if TSMC messes up and Samsung needs AND Nvidia if they want to become a bigger manufacturer than TSMC in the future.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Today they only care for their shareholders and no one else.

Dude, welcome to the real world. That's all ANY publicly traded company cares about! If the shareholders aren't happy, company management is out of jobs. Congratulations, you passed your first business class.

 

[john_]

Dude, welcome to the real world. That's all ANY publicly traded company cares about! If the shareholders aren't happy, company management is out of jobs. Congratulations, you passed your first business class.

Thank you captain obvious.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Thank you captain obvious.

You were the one who snidely put down Nvidia for answering only to shareholders, as if they are the only one, and implying Samsung are saints. So apparently not so obvious to you.