Frohwitter puts pressure on Nvidia with third UPC suit

Bernhard Frohwitter’s company Partec and its exclusive licensee BF exaQC AG filed a third complaint with the UPC against semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia last Friday. Like two previous actions, the suit filed with the Munich local division seeks injunctive relief and damages (case ID: ACT_34542/25).

The UPC website has not yet published details of the lawsuit. It is therefore unknown whether the first panel under presiding judge Matthias Zigann or the second panel under presiding judge Ulrike Voß will hear the claim.

The lawsuit is based on Partec’s EP 3 614 263. The patent concerns the core of AI supercomputers, specifically the microprocessors used and their cooperation to provide AI. The EPO only granted the patent with unitary effect in July. Partec and BF exaQC AG filed suit a few days later.

According to a press release, Partec seeks an injunction requiring Nvidia to cease distribution of AI-essential products from its DGX portfolio in 18 patent-protected European countries. The company also demands information about sales activities to date, as well as damages.

No luck at the EPO

In October 2024 ParTec sued Nvidia at the UPC for infringement of EP 3 743 812 and EP 2 628 080. EP 812 protects an “application runtime determined dynamic allocation of heterogeneous compute resources”. EP 080 protects “a computer cluster arrangement for processing a computation task and method for operation thereof”.

PartTec claims both patents are central to high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications. Essentially, they relate to supercomputers crucial for future AI applications. A second claim followed in March 2025, based only on EP 080. The second panel of the Munich local division under presiding judge Ulrike Voss is handling both claims.

However, Partec has since had little luck with EP 080, which is the original patent of a family that includes EP 812. The EPO Opposition Division and then the Boards of Appeal revoked EP 080 due to formal errors. Outside Europe, however, the patent remains valid in many countries.

In the US, Partec is taking legal action against Microsoft, accusing the company of infringing its intellectual property with supercomputers for AI as part of the Azure cloud computing platform.

Difficult times for Partec

Partec’s new lawsuit comes amid reports of the company’s difficult economic situation. Various German business magazines and online portals have recently reported on outstanding licence income and salary payments.

The share price of the listed supercomputing company has fallen sharply. At the end of October 2024, when Partec filed its first UPC lawsuit, the share was worth €99; today it stands at €23.90.

In an interview with JUVE Patent, Bernhard Frohwitter acknowledges that his company is currently in a tense situation. “We have been waiting for outstanding payments from our licence partner Bull. Initially, Bull always paid, but since 2021 we have been held up again and again.”

Frohwitter claims the amount in question is now €30 million. Bull is a subsidiary of tech group Atos. Frohwitter says Partec has now filed a lawsuit with Munich Regional Court demanding payment of the agreed licence fees.

However, Bull rejects the allegations. “Bull SAS considers the alleged claim of ParTec AG as fully ungrounded and has disputed the claim accordingly at the court,” a  spokesman of the company told JUVE Patent.

Frohwitter also points out that the company has not yet received binding subsidies from state institutions. Nevertheless, he and his family believe in Partec. “We have sold private assets to help Partec with liquid funds if necessary,” he says.

According to Frohwitter, the situation is set to change with important projects in Naples and Dresden, for example, in the final stages of negotiation. There is also said to be interest from and negotiations with high-calibre investors.

Partec CFO Hans Kilger told the online portal Aktien.News that a billion-euro deal with a major institutional investor is imminent.

Legal team reshuffled

A quick judgment from the UPC should therefore be in Partec’s interests. The Munich local division will likely hear the first lawsuit concerning EP 812 this autumn. Stefan Richter from Clifford Chance is leading the case for Partec.

The legal team also includes lawyer Roman Sedlmaier and patent attorney Jan Giegerich. They were previously at Frohwitter’s side during his time at IPCom before founding their own patent firm IPCGS. Patent attorney David Molnia from df-mp, who previously worked for IPCom, is also representing PartTec. Lastly, patent attorney Matthias Himmelsbach from Frohwitter’s own firm is involved, primarily handling the EPO proceedings.

Düsseldorf lawyer Axel Verhauwen has withdrawn from the case. The Krieger Mes partner was originally involved in the first two proceedings.

Partec has now brought London law firm Powell Gilbert on board for the new lawsuit. Partners Rajvinder Jagdev and Peter Fitz-Patrick are leading here, with associate Jodie Goonawardena assisting. The other law firms are also involved in this case.

Bardehle Pagenberg is representing Nvidia in the first two lawsuits. Patent attorney Christof Karl and lawyer Johannes Heselberger are leading the defence. JUVE Patent does not yet know whether Nvidia will also instruct them for the current proceedings. The court is currently serving the lawsuit on Nvidia.