Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX: 005930) has been cleared by a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling on Friday, stating that they didn’t infringe two of Nvidia Corp patents. However, a third one declared “invalid” alleging it wasn’t a new invention from the company. The verdict was made by the Judge Thomas Pender.
Nvidia has been leading a battle against Samsung, trying to prove the company made an illegal use of its technology. If the company would have been found guilty, the smartphone company could have faced a ban on US shipments of some of their products, including the Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5.
According to Reuters, Nvidia spokesman Robert Sherbin said, “The ruling will be reviewed by the full commission, which will make a final decision on the dispute in February. We remain confident in our case”.
Nvidia is a company best known for developing graphics chips for PC. They filed the lawsuit in September 2014, in a case involving seven of their patents. Also, they asked the International Trade Center (ITC) to block Samsung products in the US, alleging the infringement. Samsung counterattacked Nvidia, asking the ITC the same with Nvidia’s chips and mobile processors.
Although the judge has cleared Samsung, Nvidia has the chance to get a case review on February. As these lawsuits could take years to go to trial, both companies are aware than an ITC sales ban could provide real damage to the company’s profits, leading the case towards a negotiation.
Samsung has been involved in a series of lawsuits, including a battle with Apple for the past years, and a more recent one with Microsoft, all alleging that Samsung doesn’t respect their patent licensing agreement for technology used in their products.
Source: Judge’s verdict