The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted today to investigate whether certain Samsung mobile devices should be blocked from entering the U.S. because they may violate Nvidia’s graphics processing unit (GPU) patents.
Nvidia filed a complaint with the ITC last month as well as a lawsuit in the Delaware District Court. The graphics chip maker alleges that the South Korean Electronics giant, which uses a number of Qualcomm mobile processors as well as Samsung’s own Exynos mobile processors, violated Nvidia’s GPU patents.
Nvidia is asking the ITC to block imports of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 3, and Galaxy S4 mobile phones; and the Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Note Pro, and Galaxy Tab 2 computer tablets. The devices use the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, 400, 600, 800, 801, and 805 chipsets, while some use the Exynos mobile processors designed by Samsung itself.
“We are pleased with the ITC decision today to open an investigation and look forward to presenting our case on how NVIDIA GPU patents are being used without a license,” said David Shannon, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Nvidia, in a statement.
Documents in the case can be found here.