S3 Inc has been denied a preliminary injunction against Nvidia Corp by the US District Court for the Northern District of California, following S3’s patent lawsuit taken out in May (CI No 3,408). The injunction concerned one claim of one patent at issue in the case. S3 said that although the courts had accepted some of its arguments, it was disappointed at the decision, even at this early stage of the litigation. S3 had hoped to stop Nvidia from manufacturing and distributing its Riva family of graphics accelerators. But the court noted that a preliminary injunction is a drastic and extraordinary remedy that is not to be routinely granted…the record has not been fully fleshed out at this early stage. The issues in question present close calls it said. Sunnyvale, California-based Nvidia is also facing legal action from Silicon Graphics Inc.
