June 14, 2024
Patent owner ParTec AG, along with its exclusive licensee and eventual "licensing agent" BF exaQC AG (BFX), has sued Microsoft (2:24-cv-00433) over the provision of the Microsoft Azure AI system and related infrastructure. Three "cluster computing" patents are asserted in the Eastern District of Texas complaint, which outlines a series of agreements between the parties that transferred patent rights to BFX (via two subsidiaries), first in the field of "microchips and processors" and then in "the field of application of the system architecture of supercomputers (High Performance Computing), including cloud computing and the integration of quantum computers in HPC environments", the set ultimately making BFX "currently responsible for managing, licensing, and enforcing" the patents-in-suit.
The three asserted patents belong to two families, a first comprising one patent (11,537,442) and another comprising three (10,142,156; 11,934,883). The '442 patent issued to a "ParTec Cluster Competence Center GmbH", which in March 2021 (according to the complaint) changed its name and corporate form to ParTec's, in December 2022 with estimated priority in January 2018 based on a European patent application. The '156 and '883 patents issued to the same entity in November 2018 and March 2024, respectively, with an earliest estimated priority date in October 2010 based on the filing of a different European patent application. Prosecution of a related application, filed on January 31, 2024, continues before the USPTO.
Thomas Lippert is a named inventor on all three patents. Per the new complaint, ParTec and Lippert "have worked together collaboratively for decades", ParTec leaning on Lippert's biography further:
Dr. Lippert is a world-renowned leader in modular supercomputing and cluster computing. He is the head of the Jülich Supercomputing Center—one of the premier high-performance computing centers in the world with approximately 250 experts working on all aspects of supercomputing and simulation. Dr. Lippert is also a Director at the Institute of Advanced Simulation in Germany, and he holds the chair for Modular Supercomputing and Quantum computing at Goethe University in Frankfurt, where he explores the development and practical application of modular supercomputers and quantum computers. Dr. Lippert's articles have been cited over 16,000 times according to Google Scholar, and he was named to HPCWire's People to Watch in both 2022 and 2010.
ParTec's CEO Bernhard Frohwitter is a named inventor for only the '442 patent. Per ParTec, Frohwitter is "also well-known in the supercomputing field" and "has been the Majority Shareholder, Managing Director, and Chairman of the Board at ParTec". Founded in 1999, ParTec describes itself as "a leading provider of modular supercomputers, quantum computers, and software for modular computing systems" and its clients apparently include Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Cineca, Israel Innovation Authority, and more. ParTec pleads that "[i]ts services include the distribution of future-oriented high-performance computers (HPC) and quantum computers (QC), as well as consulting and support services in all areas of development, construction, and operation of these advanced systems. The approach of modular supercomputing represents a unique selling point for ParTec".
The case against Microsoft has been assigned to Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap. Susman Godfrey LLP, Ward Smith and Hill PLLC, and Capshaw Derieux LLP provide representation for the plaintiffs. 6/10, Eastern District of Texas.
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