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Technology Stocks : IDTI - an IC Play on Growth Markets -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Marvin M. Lim who wrote (10605)	11/18/1999 12:01:00 PM
From: Taro	Respond to of 11555

well, IDTI owns the basic JTAG patent (also know as the "Miller" patent after the inventor). Altera uses JTAG on all devices without a license. As opposed to T.I., Intel and others who are believed to be covered through recent cross license agreements. This could turn real dirty: With all Altera wafer supplies off shore an injunction for patent violation could be Altera's worst case night mare back-fire. Stay tuned...

To: Marvin M. Lim who wrote (10605)	11/18/1999 12:18:00 PM
From: Marvin M. Lim	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11555

Clear Logic defends its technology against Altera's suit seminews.com SAN JOSE - Clear Logic Inc. here responded today to a lawsuit filed by Altera Corp., saying it confirms the commercial success of Clear Logic's products. The company said it will "vigorously contest these invalid allegations and expects to be vindicated." Clear Logic, a fabless supplier of ASIC replacements for programmable logic devices (PLDs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), said the suit's allegations were "totally unfounded" and "completely frivolous." The lawsuit alleges that Clear Logic has violated laws relating to Altera's intellectual property and Altera's relationships with its customers (see Nov. 17 story). "By this lawsuit, Altera has acknowledged the rapidly growing popularity of the Clear Logic solution with Altera's major customers," said Al Huggins, Clear Logic's president and CEO. "In fact, the lawsuit itself provides confirmation of the ease-of-use and compatibility of Clear Logic products." In the filing, Altera states that "Altera has suffered and/or will continue to suffer reduced sales and/or lost profits" and that "Altera has been damaged and has suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable loss and injury," as a result of Clear Logic's market entry. Clear Logic acknowledges that customers have rapidly adopted its products since they were first made available only last year. Altera's documents acknowledge Clear Logic's claims that using Clear Logic's devices is "simply a matter of removing the Altera device from the printed circuit board and replacing it with one from Clear Logic." Altera also cites Clear Logic's ability to provide second source Altera replacement parts to customers within two weeks. Clear Logic participates in the FPGA-to-ASIC conversion market as a lawful, legitimate ASIC supplier, Huggins said. "This suit demonstrates that Altera is afraid of competition and recognizes Clear Logic to be a serious threat," he added. "Clear Logic's proprietary technology offers pin-compatible devices to customers that second source the Altera products at a much lower price. Providing second source products at a lower cost using advanced technology is a classic path to success that benefits both the innovators and customers. Of course, entrenched competitors with huge investments in old technologies look to the courts to protect them from competition."