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Xockets, inventor of Data Processing Unit (DPU) technology has launched a legal battle against NVIDIA and Microsoft. The lawsuit, filed in Texas, accuses the companies of forming an illegal cartel to avoid fair compensation for its patented DPU technology. Xockets claims that the Data Processing Unit technology its co-founder Parin Dalal invented in 2012 is fundamental to NVIDIA's GPU-enabled AI systems and Microsoft's AI platforms. The lawsuit alleges that NVIDIA has infringed on Xockets' patents since its 2020 acquisition of Mellanox, a deal NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang once called a "homerun." Xockets is seeking injunctions to halt the release of NVIDIA's new Blackwell GPU-enabled AI systems and Microsoft's use of these systems in their generative AI platforms.
The case touches on the bigger issues of intellectual property rights and the monopoly in the tech sector. Robert Cote, a Xockets board member, describes the suit as a fight against "Big Tech's predatory infringement playbook," accusing NVIDIA and Microsoft of making moves to devalue smaller companies' innovations. The AI revolution continues to transform the tech world, and this legal dispute may have a profound effect on the way intellectual property is valued and protected in the industry, possibly introducing new precedents for the relationship between tech giants and smaller innovators.
NVIDIA declined to comment, Microsoft and RPX, which is also a defendant, did not respond to requests for comment. The case is Xockets Inc v Nvidia, Microsoft and RPX, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. 6:24-cv-00453-ADA.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
The case touches on the bigger issues of intellectual property rights and the monopoly in the tech sector. Robert Cote, a Xockets board member, describes the suit as a fight against "Big Tech's predatory infringement playbook," accusing NVIDIA and Microsoft of making moves to devalue smaller companies' innovations. The AI revolution continues to transform the tech world, and this legal dispute may have a profound effect on the way intellectual property is valued and protected in the industry, possibly introducing new precedents for the relationship between tech giants and smaller innovators.
"NVIDIA and Microsoft are abusing their dominance and market power in AI in an attempt to pay little or nothing for the innovations of others that are used in their products. They are engaging in illegal activities that are part of Big Tech's predatory infringement playbook, a strategy designed to devalue the IP of other innovators. Xockets invented advanced DPU technology, including new computing and switching plane architectures for a new class of cloud processors, that have enabled the AI revolution and are critical to both NVIDIA's and Microsoft's continued Xockets.com success," said Xockets board member Robert Cote, an IP investor and expert on IP rights.
"When Xockets reached out to both NVIDIA and Microsoft about licensing or acquiring its patents, they refused to engage even though they had every incentive to seize at an opportunity to gain the first and potentially exclusive legal access to this groundbreaking technology—technology that both companies have publicly admitted is critical to their current business. Instead, it was RPX who reached out to Xockets to do a licensing deal on behalf of what it euphemistically refers to as its "members," which it has indicated included NVIDIA and Microsoft", quoted from Xockets Motion for Preliminary Injunction.
NVIDIA declined to comment, Microsoft and RPX, which is also a defendant, did not respond to requests for comment. The case is Xockets Inc v Nvidia, Microsoft and RPX, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. 6:24-cv-00453-ADA.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source