Via must pay for Intel technology

Intel and Via Technologies have settled their year-old squabble over alleged patent infringements.

The dispute arose over the terms of a November 1998 cross licence agreement between the chip giant and Taiwan-based Via relating to bus technology in Pentium 2 and Pentium 3-compatible chipsets.

Intel filed the lawsuits last June after it had become concerned that Via was claiming licences for components in its products where Intel did not grant them.

This followed the collapse of 45 days of negotiations over a new licensing agreement to cover Via's activities. Relations worsened after Via beat Intel to the punch in shipping a PC133 memory compatible chipset months before Intel, an additional apparent violation of the licensing agreement. This culminated in Intel filing an unfair trade practices complaint with the International trade Commission (ITC) in January this year.

Late yesterday, lawsuits filed in Singapore, the UK and with the US ITC were dropped.

Under the terms of the agreement, Via will pay Intel an undisclosed lump sum and royalty fee relating to some of the Pentium 5 and Pentium 6 chipsets it produces. A further lawsuit, relating to alleged use of Intel patents by Via in the manufacture of AMD-compatible chips, is still ongoing.

In return, Intel has agreed to modify the existing November 1998 licensing agreement to reflect current market and business conditions, and allow Via to continue producing the Pentium 5 and Pentium 6 chipsets.

The pair have agreed to keep all other terms of the deal confidential.

Legal experts said the case could have dragged on for years if a settlement hadn't been reached.