SAN FRANCISCO (08/31/2000) - Intel Corp. Wednesday filed a motion in the remaining piece of its patent infringement case against Taiwanese chipset vendor Via Technologies Inc. Although the two parties settled the majority of their legal dispute last month, both companies agreed to keep this particular litigation ongoing, according to an Intel spokesman.
Describing Wednesday's filing in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco as "highly procedural," Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said that the motion filed is what the chip maker needed to do in order to proceed with the case. Next up is the process of discovery, with no court date set as yet, he added.
The continuing legal dispute relates to alleged patent infringement in connection with Via's KX133 chipset which supports Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Athlon chip.
Intel and Via first fell out over the terms of a 1998 cross-licensing agreement, with Intel alleging last year that Via had overstepped the terms of the contract. Intel then withdrew Via's license in June 1999 and went on to file patent infringement lawsuits against the Taiwanese vendor in Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S.
The two parties kissed and almost made up in July of this year with Via agreeing to pay Intel a lump sum along with ongoing royalty fees for use of some Intel patents. For its part, Intel agreed to change the earlier cross-licensing agreement between the pair to allow Via to manufacture and sell chipsets that work with Intel's Pentium III, Celeron and earlier versions of its processors. [See "Intel, Via Settle Bulk of Their Patent Dispute," July 5.]However, the original 1998 agreement and its subsequent renegotiation last month didn't extend to Via's right to make chipsets that work with processors from Intel's arch-rival AMD, some of which use the same x86-type design as Intel's processors.
"The KX133 (from Via) wasn't part of the original agreement, so it wasn't part of the settlement," Mulloy said.
Intel, in Santa Clara, California, can be reached at +1-408-765-8080, or via the Web at http://www.intel.com/. Via Technologies, in Taipei, can be reached at +886-2-2218-5452, or on the Web at http://www.via.com.tw/.