my rumors re: false rumors were correct...intl NOT settling w. DEC..
alll right shorts.....
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel Corp. is not looking to acquire Digital Equipment
Corp.'s Alpha microprocessor technology, according to a source close to
Intel. However, the two companies are holding discussions aimed at
settling an ongoing patent battle, the source said.
Word of Intel's purported interest in Alpha surfaced Monday in a story in
The Wall Street Journal.
Officially, Intel declined to offer any comment. "We will neither confirm nor
deny discussions between Intel and Digital on the litigation, and therefore
we won't comment on the Alpha report," said an Intel spokesman.
But the source close to Intel noted that talks are indeed being held in a bid
to settle the fractious patent fight that began this past May, when Digital
charged Intel with infringing 10 microprocessor patents. The patents
centered on technologies relating to branch-prediction, cache management
and superscalar instruction-execution methods.
Intel promptly countersued. Initially, Intel filed a suit requesting that
Digital return confidential documents Intel had provided to the company.
Then, in late August, Intel cited Digital for infringing 14 microprocessor
patents.
It's not clear when the talks will yield a settlement, but it's likely that any
announcement won't be forthcoming during the next two weeks. That's
because Intel is preparing to make a high-profile disclosure next week at
the Microprocessor Forum, in San Jose, Calif., of the 64-bit instruction set
that will form the basis for its long-awaited Merced chip.
Also unclear is just which company will be reaching into its pockets to
secure the settlement. "The lawsuit against Intel just isn't that good," said
Rich Belgard, a respected microprocessor consultant in Saratoga, Calif. "If
anything, the Intel lawsuit against Digital is better."
However, other sources suggest Intel might be looking to put the legal
battle behind it and stanch any talk that Intel is putting a squeeze on
competing microprocessor technologies. Digital, for its part, is reportedly
anxious to end the battle so that it can secure future supplies of Intel CPUs
for its successful line of Windows NT workstations. |
