« Black Kettle, Says Pot | Main | Baby Gorilla »
March 16, 2009
Danger!
Intel
warned AMD today that attempting to transfer their patent cross-licensing agreement to
AMD's manufacturing spin-off, GlobalFoundries, was a violation. Intel considers
GlobalFoundries a separate company. AMD owns a 34.2% share of GlobalFoundries,
with 50% voting rights. This dispute, heading now for mediation, follows
unsuccessful negotiation between the two, and should be
viewed against the backdrop that AMD sparked multiple antitrust investigations
of Intel,
which are still ongoing.
Bruce Sewell, general counsel for Intel: "AMD cannot unilaterally extend Intel's licensing rights to a third party without Intel's consent."
AMD: "We believe that Intel manufactured this diversion as an attempt to distract attention from the increasing number of antitrust rulings against it around the world. With a ruling from the European Commission and a U.S. trial date looming, and investigations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General, the clock is ticking on Intel's illegal practices - and yet with its dominant monopoly position it still tries to stifle competitors."
Shareholders think Intel is trying to pull the wool. Monday, AMD shares leapt 5.6% (14¢), while Intel sagged 1.5% (22¢).
Posted by Patent Hawk at March 16, 2009 7:20 PM | Patents In Business
Comments
PH,
Love the robot pic ("Warning", "Warning") which I presume is from Lost in Space.
Posted by: EG at March 17, 2009 7:43 AM
You figure Intel didn't know enough not to include a foundry provision in their license? I'd be stunned if the license didn't restrict to AMD products, and specifically exclude foundry works, regardless of whether the foundry was owned by AMD or not.
Posted by: Judith at March 17, 2009 10:35 AM