German supercomputer manufacturer sues Nvidia
Partec accuses Nvidia of patent infringements with the DGX systems. Partec also raises antitrust issues.
Nvidia's DGX Superpod with B200 GPUs, which also serves as the basis for supercomputers.
(Image: Nvidia)
Nvidia is allegedly using technology from the German company Partec in its own DGX servers. Partec is accusing Nvidia of this in two lawsuits at the Federal Patent Court in Munich and is also raising antitrust issues.
At the heart of the case is patent EP2628080B1 “Computer cluster arrangement for processing a computational task and method of operation therefor,” or US patent number US20240168823A1 from 2010, which describes how servers consisting of several processors and accelerators can dynamically distribute the load to different chips while the computations are still running.
Partec markets its load distribution system as a dynamic Modular System Architecture (dMSA) and develops the Parastation software to control it. It is also used in European supercomputers, including the German exascale system Jupiter Booster, which Partec built together with the French company Eviden.
Cooperation blocked
According to Partec, it has worked with Nvidia on supercomputer projects for many years. In 2019, concrete talks are said to have taken place about a possible collaboration in the development of GPU accelerators. According to Partec, it presented the dMSA, the Parastation software, and the most important patents and provided copies. Nvidia is said to have discontinued the joint project but continued to work with Partec on the construction of supercomputers.
Meanwhile, however, Nvidia is said to have blocked all talks. In addition, Nvidia allegedly no longer wants to supply GPUs for supercomputers that Partec is involved in building. Nvidia is said to have explained that this decision is based on Partec's patent lawsuit against Microsoft from June 2024. In it, Partec accuses Microsoft of the same patent infringements as against Nvidia. Microsoft is one of the most important customers for Nvidia's AI accelerators and would therefore be indirectly affected by possible court rulings.
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“Competition and antitrust implications”?
“This refusal persists to this day and could have implications under competition and antitrust law,” reads a statement.
Partec is requesting that “the distribution of essential products from the DGX product portfolio in 18 patent-protected countries in Europe be discontinued.” Partec is also demanding the disclosure of previous sales activities and compensation for damages. Usually, such disputes result in less dramatic out-of-court settlements.
(mma)
