Samsung asks the US government to block NVIDIA's chips
The patent war between NVIDIA and Samsung isn't going to wind down any time soon. Samsung has backed up its countering lawsuit against NVIDIA with a US International Trade Commission complaint asking the agency to block imports of NVIDIA's GeForce graphics chips and Tegra mobile processors. While it's not clear just which parts are under scrutiny, the dispute names a slew of third-party device makers who'd have to stop selling hardware in the US. Most of them are video card designers, such as Biostar and EVGA, but the action would also affect Tegra-based gadgets like OUYA's mini console and the Wikipad gaming tablet.
NVIDIA tells Bloomberg that it hasn't had a chance to look at the complaint in earnest, but it "look[s] forward" to pursuing its own ITC dispute. The company certainly has a way to defend itself, then. With that said, the table stakes are now particularly high. ITC complaints typically take less time to handle than lawsuits, so there's a greater chance that NVIDIA and partners will have to yank their products from store shelves.
