Intel Dispute Won't Choke Supply of AMD Chips

From PC World: Intel Corp.'s threat to pull its cross-licensing deal with AMD Inc. is unlikely to result in a shortage of AMD processors in the market, experts said Monday.

"Gosh, I'd worry more about a meteor slamming into the Earth," said Nathan Brookwood, a longtime analyst with Insight64, noting that very few patent lawsuits in Silicon Valley result in either party being forced to halt production.

Even as both Intel and AMD amp up their legal posturing and rhetoric, they will also "go on their merry way making their products," he said.

One reason is the terms of the 2001 deal struck by AMD and Intel which spell out that any dispute must be settled in state court or federal court in Delaware (see clause 9.8).

For Intel to get a court order to force AMD to stop making processors would take at least three years, according to Mark Walters, a patent lawyer in the Seattle office of Darby & Darby.

To hammer home how long such cases take, AMD sued Intel for broad antitrust violations in 2005. The case is expected to go to federal court next year.

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