By Michael Kanellos, 12 February 2004 08:55
NEWS Intel has won an appeal in a long-standing lawsuit with rival chipmaker Intergraph, raising the possibility that Intel can recover some of the $150m it has already paid the rival chipmaker to settle the dispute.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a district court verdict in the case that revolves around Intels Itanium processor. In the case, the court ruled that Intel's 64-bit Itanium chip infringed on intellectual property developed for Intergraph's now defunct Clipper processor and awarded the company $150m.
Under the terms of the settlement in the Itanium case, Intel agreed to pay the $150m, but reserved the right to appeal the issue of whether infringement occurred. If it lost the appeal, it agreed it would pay $100m more to Intergraph.
The terms stipulated that Intel would not receive the $150m already paid even if it won its appeal.
The court did more than just side with Intel, however, finding that no infringement occurred. The appeals court completely vacated the trial court ruling. As a result, it is unclear what happens to the $150m.
An Intel spokesman said: "We certainly are grateful that the appeals court agreed with our position. It is premature to speculate on what will happen next. Weve got a lot of analysis to determine how the ruling affects the framework."
Also in the world of chips, Advanced Micro Devices has announced that CEO Hector Ruiz has been appointed as chairman elect to replace company founder Jerry Sanders.
AMD said Ruiz, who joined the company in 2000, is expected to become chairman after the company's annual meeting on 29 April. Ruiz became chief executive in 2002.
AMD's current chairman Sanders will serve as chairman emeritus.
Michael Kanellos writes for News.com
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