The Texas-based company, Xockets, alleges that Nvidia’s data processing units (DPUs), which enhance cloud infrastructure efficiency, infringe on its patented technology. Xockets claims that Nvidia acquired the infringement through its 2020 purchase of Mellanox, which had allegedly violated Xockets’ patent following a public demonstration of the DPU technology in 2015.
Xockets points to three Nvidia DPUs—BlueField, ConnectX, and NVLink Switch—as infringing on its patents. Additionally, it accuses Microsoft of patent infringement, alleging that Microsoft, as an Nvidia customer, has access to Nvidia’s infringing GPU-enabled server systems and components for AI.
The startup claims it alerted Nvidia to the infringement, with Xockets’ founder and board member Parin Dalal reportedly raising the issue with Nvidia’s DPU business VP in February 2022. Xockets accuses Nvidia of employing an “efficient infringement” strategy, which involves infringing on patents and handling legal disputes later.
Moreover, Xockets alleges that Nvidia and Microsoft are colluding to dominate the GPU server market for AI through a cartel facilitated by RPX, a company Xockets claims was created by major tech firms to form buyer cartels for intellectual property. According to Xockets, this cartel allows Nvidia and Microsoft to suppress innovations like Xockets’ and manipulate prices, consolidating control over GPU-enabled generative AI technologies.
Xockets is seeking damages and an injunction to prevent further patent infringement and antitrust violations. Despite facing two major industry players, Xockets’ investor and board member Robert Cote, an IP lawyer, expressed confidence in the startup’s ability to challenge the giants.
Parin Dalal is currently a principal engineer in machine learning and AI at Google, although Google is not officially involved in the litigation. Nvidia and Google declined to comment, and Microsoft and RPX have yet to respond.