Not sure of how relevant it is here, but yes, GPUs architectures are bound by tons of patents so you can bet your a$$ that if you were to commercially launch your own GPU IP, you'll have Nvidia's and AMD's lawyers knocking on your door in under 10 seconds.
IIRC most companies out there selling GPU IP are still paying royalties to AMD for their patents on shader architecture which they got from their acquisition of ATI which in turn came from their acquisition of ArtX which was founded by people who worked at the long defunct SGI (Silicon Graphics).
The funny thing is, if you backtrack through all GPU innovations, most stem from former SGI employees.
When 3Dfx went under, even though Nvidia's GPU tech was already superior to anything 3Dfx had, Nvidia immediately swept in and picked their carcass clean, mostly for their patents in this space, so they would have more ammo/leverage against competitors going forward.
Regardless how you feel about patents, with their pros and cons, hardware engineering is a capital intensive business and without patents to protect your expensive R&D, it wouldn't be a viable business.
IIRC most companies out there selling GPU IP are still paying royalties to AMD for their patents on shader architecture which they got from their acquisition of ATI which in turn came from their acquisition of ArtX which was founded by people who worked at the long defunct SGI (Silicon Graphics).
The funny thing is, if you backtrack through all GPU innovations, most stem from former SGI employees.
When 3Dfx went under, even though Nvidia's GPU tech was already superior to anything 3Dfx had, Nvidia immediately swept in and picked their carcass clean, mostly for their patents in this space, so they would have more ammo/leverage against competitors going forward.
Regardless how you feel about patents, with their pros and cons, hardware engineering is a capital intensive business and without patents to protect your expensive R&D, it wouldn't be a viable business.