Patent Law

Danger!

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

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¢).

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).