Intel Corp, the world's biggest maker of chipsets, said a recent US court ruling in favor of rival VIA Technologies Inc (
Last week, the US District Court in San Jose threw out one of three patent infringement suits filed by Intel against VIA, Taiwan's No. 1 maker of chipsets. The dispute centers around allegations VIA used intellectual property used in Intel's Pentium III processor in a chipset the Taiwanese company designed to support a processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
The ruling marks the latest development in the long-simmering dispute between Intel and VIA, which holds 40 percent of the US$3 billion global market for chipsets. Stung by the legal tangle, VIA last month said it would begin selling motherboards under its own brand to boost demand for its chipsets, the components that control the flow of data between the processor and other parts of a computer.
"The case is still ongoing and is headed for trial," said VIA spokesman Chuch Mulloy via telephone from California. "We haven't decided whether to appeal the court's latest ruling."
In early September, Intel sued Via in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, claiming the Taiwanese company infringed five of its patents by selling without a license chipsets to accompany Intel's family of Pentium4 processors. VIA countered days later, suing Intel for infringing its patents and destroying property.
Intel turned up the heat in late September, extending its lawsuit against VIA to three countries. Taipei-based Via infringed on patents in Germany, the UK and Hong Kong, the biggest maker of computer chips and chipsets said in a statement.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel's legal battles with Via encompass the use of technology associated with the world's biggest chipmaker's Pentium III and Pentium4 processors. Portions of the legal scuffle have been settled out of court by Via paying Intel an undisclosed sum of money.
The Pentium4 lawsuit is pending. Manuela Mercandelli, VIA's spokeswomen, wouldn't comment on the Pentium4 dispute.
"What will really impact VIA's share price is settlement of the Pentium4 business," said Cheng Yi-sheng, who helps manage NT$1.5 billion (US$43 million) in Taiwan investments at Taiwan Securities Co (台証證券). "Intel won't easily settle with VIA because it wants to roll out its own products and increase its market share."
Intel, which has more than 50 percent of the chipset market, is trying to shut out VIA by denying the company a license for the Pentium4, giving permits instead to two smaller chipset designers. VIA, which began selling Pentium4 chipsets in August, said it does not require a license for their sale, a claim Intel refutes.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure