U.S. Probes Samsung Patent Case, Names Nvidia, Google and Other AI Giants as Respondents

The case stems from a long-running patent dispute between U.S. memory-chip maker Netlist and Samsung Electronics. Samsung’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DDR5 memory chips are accused of infringement, and the products are widely used by technology giants including Nvidia and Google in AI servers. The case has drawn close market attention because it could lead to an import ban on related AI hardware, posing a major risk to a global AI chip supply chain already struggling to meet demand.

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on July 15, 2026, to formally launch a Section 337 investigation into Samsung Electronics and the products at issue. To strengthen its negotiating leverage, plaintiff Netlist named downstream companies using the technology, including Nvidia, Broadcom and Supermicro, as co-respondents. Samsung had previously been found liable for infringement in litigation in a Texas federal court and ordered to pay Netlist more than $400 million in damages.