Caring1You say Patent troll, I say smart business.
Nvidia dropped the ball and missed the opportunity to renew or purchase the patents in question, so sad, too bad.

TheLostSwedeIf a company doesn't make any products or create new innovations, but rather make all their money from buying patents from third parties and then use them to sue companies that are using similar technology, then they're a patent troll. This seems to a clear case of a patent troll in action.

londisteIn this case, I am not sure if Xperi is patent troll or not. The company does seem to be doing R&D or has been doing significant R&D in the semiconductor packaging field, making it a valid (not a patent troll) patent holder. The history from last decade or so, on the other hand, has a lot of IP acquisitions.

TheLostSwedeXperi seems to be a holding company of some kind, with the R&D being done at wholly owned subsidy Invensas, which kind of still makes them a patent troll. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperi

londisteI mean, I do not like the way this looks but when I try to look at this objectively, Xperi does not necessarily qualify as a patent troll.

_FlareWe need more global free common IP

i bet some day i get sued over patent-infringement for "using a round thing as a wheel" whoever holds that patent

Anyone who harasses a court with such a trolling, should be expropriated.

birdieThe most disgusting thing about all patents litigations is that the actual people/teams behind the patents don't get anything off these litigations.

And they say slavery has long been abolished.

BorgOvermindNVIDIA also used wood screws to fake their 'new video card' presentation a few years back and got away with it (not even a fine from what I remember) so I'm amazed someone actually won against them.

BeertintedgogglesWe do have global free common IP..... after the patent expires. Those who invent require some kind of protection against the theft of their work or else what's the point? For the greater good?? Let's see how well that greater good pays for future R&D. In fact, there are times when a company will seal their IP in a time stamped envelope and not patent (called trade secrets). That way they don't have to worry about making their property public; however, they also can't sue over any infringement in that case either. In some one tries to patent that trade secret, the original company can then prove with their sealed and dated envelope in the courts that they were first but now the cat is out of the bag and if a patent is sought it will granted starting with the date on the envelope (the start of the patent date may have changed since I was last in the loop). But to worried about being sued over "using a round thing as a wheel" is either at best being completely naïve on how the patent system works and what happens when they expire or at worst trying to use scare tactics and OMG..... it's so outlandish!!!!

Totally"Those that invent" does Xperi fall into that category.

we have been speaking with NVIDIA for several years about taking a patent license. We ultimately could not reach an agreement and we felt that we needed to take this action to defend our intellectual property rights.

Caring1You say Patent troll, I say smart business.
Nvidia dropped the ball and missed the opportunity to renew or purchase the patents in question, so sad, too bad.

UbersonicI felt a little sorry for Nvidia until I read that lol, no excuse.

londisteReading the patents, I really have to wonder if these are that unique - some of these seem to be somewhat close to common sense.

BeertintedgogglesAccording to the US Patent and Trademark Offices they do: patents # 5,666,046; 6,232,231; 6,317,333; 6,849,946; and 7,064,005. Once those have expired, everyone and anyone can use that IP freely.

TotallyThat's the problem. It shouldn't be allowed to purchase a patent and then have free reign to sue anyone and everyone. That privilege should be reserved for the original patent holder. If a company purchases patent(s) to be considered and innovator they then have to actually produce a product.

TotallyThat's the problem. It shouldn't be allowed to purchase a patent and then have free reign to sue anyone and everyone. That privilege should be reserved for the original patent holder.

The JediWhat's to say TSMC being a veteran in this business didn't develop their own tech independently? It is after all a Taiwan company manufacturing in China. What about Taiwanese patents TSMC has? International agreements on IP and trade come into play.

Caring1Patents are proof of ownership, if the original owner died, the patent shouldn't end there.