Intel Corp (INTC)

[Elmer Phud]

Anyone care to offer comments?


So what about those x86 patents?

In our conversation with the company, AMD made a strong distinction between a technology license agreement, in which one company furnishes another with a vital ingredient or special sauce necessary to the function of a product, and a patent license agreement, in which two companies agree not to sue each other for intellectual property (IP) infringement. AMD's point here is rather simple: AMD neither needs nor receives any technological help from Intel when designing x86 processors. In the event that the cross-license agreement between the two companies were to be canceled, there's nothing stopping AMD from continuing to build its current products or designing future ones.

From AMD's perspective, the distinction between patent licensing and technology agreements is nontrivial; Sunnyvale is alleging that part of the reason Intel is alleging a material breach is to spread FUD within the media, the market, and potential AMD/Globalfoundries partners. In the event that the two companies cannot agreeably mediate the problems within the next 60 days, one or both of them will almost certainly file suit against the other.

http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2009/03/amd-intel-engaged-in-x86-licensing-staredown.ars

Note: The cross licensing agreement between Intel and AMD so often cited here is defined as a Patent Cross Licensing Agreement, not a technology agreement. So what is AMD talking about?