Washington, D.C. – South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking to block from the U.S. market any and all products using computer-graphics chips made by  Nvidia Corp.

Samsung called on the federal agency to investigate Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia for what it says are violations of Samsung patents and for making false claims about its products.

The Korean company’s lawsuit came in response to Nvidia’s charges that Samsung and rival Qualcomm Inc of infringing patents on its graphics-processing unit (GPU).

Samsung, which had filed the lawsuit in a U.S. federal court last month, is seeking damages for deliberate infringement of several technical patents, including a few that govern the way semiconductors buffer and use data.

Also named in the complaint were 11 other Nvidia partners – computer-parts manufacturers Biostar Microtech, Elitegroup Computer Systems, EVGA, Fuhu, Jaton, Mad Catz, Ouya, Sparkle Computer, Toradex, Wikipad and ZOTAC – all of which sell products using Nvidia graphics cards and system chips.

The complaint is the latest in a series of patent-related legal actions between the two companies that started in September with Nvidia suing both Samsung and mobile-chip maker Qualcomm.

Samsung’s ITC filing is the latest broadside in a patent battle between Nvidia and Samsung.

In September, Nvidia filed a suit in U.S. Federal Court in Delaware claiming that Nvidia’s graphics patents were being violated and a complaint with the ITC calling for the agency to block shipments of some of Samsung’s best-selling smartphones and tablets into the U.S.

Last month, the ITC agreed to investigate Nvidia’s complaint.Samsung fired back in early November with its own civil suit in Virginia, claiming Nvidia and its customer Velocity Micro, as a whole, violated eight of its patents.

The ITC is expected to determine whether to initiate an investigation within 30 calendar days of a complaint being filed.

12/02/2014