[TPU] Intel Notifies AMD of Cross-License Breach

7409 Views 130 Replies 71 Participants Last post by newbie1911, Mar 18, 2009

Aaroman

Discussion Starter · Mar 16, 2009

Quote:

Intel Corporation today disclosed that the company has notified Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) that it believes AMD has breached a 2001 patent cross-license agreement with Intel. Intel believes that Global Foundries is not a subsidiary under terms of the agreement and is therefore not licensed under the 2001 patent cross-license agreement. Intel also said the structure of the deal between AMD and ATIC breaches a confidential portion of that agreement. Intel has asked AMD to make the relevant portion of the agreement public, but so far AMD has declined to do so. AMD's breach could result in the loss of licenses and rights granted to AMD by Intel under the agreement.

"Intellectual property is a cornerstone of Intel's technology leadership and for more than 30 years, the company has believed in the strategic importance of licensing intellectual property in exchange for fair value. However AMD cannot unilaterally extend Intel's licensing rights to a third party without Intel's consent," said Bruce Sewell, senior vice president and general counsel for Intel. We have attempted to address our concerns with AMD without success since October. We are willing to find a resolution but at the same time we have an obligation to our stockholders to protect the billions of dollars we've invested in intellectual property."

Under terms of the license agreement the notification to AMD means the parties will attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation. In response to the notification AMD claimed Intel breached the agreement by notifying AMD of its breach. Intel believes that position is inconsistent with the dispute resolution process outlined in the original agreement.

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yay admiral mudkipz is offline so now I can post news again!

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1 - 20 of 131 Posts

corky dorkelson

· #2 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by Aaroman

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I think I am gonna switch back to AMD on my next build.....

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lockdownx1x

· #3 · Mar 16, 2009

>_>

Intel...the FÃ¼hrer does not approve of this...

RonindeBeatrice

· #4 · Mar 16, 2009

Quote:

AMD claimed Intel breached the agreement by notifying AMD of its breach.

Lol wut?

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corky dorkelson

· #5 · Mar 16, 2009

I call your breach and raise you a breachy-breach.

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psycho12345

· #6 · Mar 16, 2009

Is it just me, or is Intel playing hardball with everyone nowadays? Suing Nvidia, claiming that it current license on x86 chipset doesn't extend to Nehelem, FUD about ION, and now this.

gerikoh

· #7 · Mar 16, 2009

come on now intel. i think they're scared because amd can improve their products since they can focus with more rnd since it can leave production with atic.

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sizeak

· #8 · Mar 16, 2009

I wonder if Intel will get raped for being a monopoly if they pull this off? Not good news for AMD if its true they breached.

Chucko

· #9 · Mar 16, 2009

Intel's not scared of anyone. They're the 800 lb gorilla of the chip industry! And Intel has always played hardball. In this case I think the lawyers went looking for something to do. They're just keeping AMD/Globalfoundries honest.

I expect this will be settled amicably (and with a few hundred million changing hands) by changing the terms of the cross license.

FallenFaux

· #10 · Mar 16, 2009

If Intel pulled AMD's x86 license, couldn't AMD just pull Intel's x64 license? I thought the agreement was that AMD traded x64 for x86.

uberjon

· #11 · Mar 16, 2009

2

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Originally Posted by FallenFaux

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If Intel pulled AMD's x86 license, couldn't AMD just pull Intel's x64 license? I thought the agreement was that AMD traded x64 for x86.

rofl now that would be funny! considering x64 beats x86!

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Andr3az

· #12 · Mar 16, 2009

2

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Originally Posted by RonindeBeatrice

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AMD claimed Intel breached the agreement by notifying AMD of its breach.

Lol wut?

Yo dawg... I herd u like breaches, so we put a breach into your breach so you can announce breaches while you announce breaches when you breach the agreement of notifying breaches.

Interesting article tho.

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Melcar

· #13 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by FallenFaux

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If Intel pulled AMD's x86 license, couldn't AMD just pull Intel's x64 license? I thought the agreement was that AMD traded x64 for x86.

AMD traded x86_64 for one of the SSEs; I think it was SSE3 (or was it SEE2?).

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CAHOP240

· #14 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by Andr3az

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Yo dawg... I herd u like breaches, so we put a breach into your breach so you can announce breaches while you announce breaches when you breach the agreement of notifying breaches.

Interesting article tho.

I might sound like a noob, but where did this "yo dawg" meme come from?

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Solertia

· #15 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by Andr3az

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Yo dawg... I herd u like breaches, so we put a breach into your breach so you can announce breaches while you announce breaches when you breach the agreement of notifying breaches.

*head explodes*

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Andr3az

· #16 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by CAHOP240

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I might sound like a noob, but where did this "yo dawg" meme come from?

Quote:

Xzibit has attained popularity as an Internet meme, whereby his picture is juxtaposed with redundant statements beginning with "Yo dawg." The meme usually takes the form of a false Xzibit quote imitating the way the Pimp My Ride crew embeds amenities in vehicles, with humorously inappropriate items being integrated with each other.

Xzibit expressed distaste for the trend, calling it old via a Twitter entry on February 27, 2009.[11] However, later he made a clarifying statement to soften his stance on the meme[12], and even made an attempt at creating a joke himself, which reads "SUP DAWG, I hear you cant hear, so I put a hearing aid in yo hearing to listen while youre listening."[13]

Quoted from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xzibit#Internet_Meme

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thenutty1

· #17 · Mar 16, 2009

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"Intel's action is an attempt to distract the world from the global antitrust scrutiny it faces," AMD said in a statement provided to reporters. "Should this matter proceed to litigation, we will prove not only that Intel is wrong, but also that Intel fabricated this claim to interfere with our commercial relationships and thus has violated the cross-license."

AMD, for its part, said that the 2001 agreement contained procedures for settling disputes, and that AMD had begun acting according to those procedures. Intel's actions represent its own breach of the contract, AMD said. "In addition, the Company [AMD] has informed Intel that Intel's purported attempt to terminate the Company's rights and licenses under the cross license itself constitutes a material breach of the cross license by Intel which gives the Company the right to terminate Intel's rights and licenses under the cross license agreement while reataining the company's rights and licenses under the cross license agreement," AMD's SEC filing said.

^^ from ExtremeTech article about the same thing. Personally, I think Intel needs to watch how it throws its weight around. It just might find itself on bad terms with the rest of the tech world. All it takes is for some big companies to get together and come up with something different/better than x86 and have the rest of the industry back it, and Intel loses a lot.

Obviously this is far fetched, but you never know.

EDIT:
Quote:

AMD traded x86_64 for one of the SSEs; I think it was SSE3 (or was it SEE2?).

I believe that according to the x86 license agreement between Intel and AMD, they must share all technologies and improvements to the x86 architecture. This includes SSE and x64 instructions.

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Gr3m1in

· #18 · Mar 16, 2009

According to Patrick Moorhead from AMD the Intelectual Property of AMD's that Intel is using is and i quote

Quote:

PatrickMoorheadAMD IP that Intel leverages: 64-bit architecture extensions, integrated memory controllers, multi-core architecture.

This could end very bad for intel if AMD decides to stick it out and not just make a deal

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thenutty1

· #19 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by Gr3m1in

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According to Patrick Moorhead from AMD the Intelectual Property of AMD's that Intel is using is and i quote

This could end very bad for intel if AMD decides to stick it out and not just make a deal

Yes, but Intel owns the IP for x86. Since x64 is an extension of x86, it is basically useless without Intel's IP.

AMD would have to come up with something different than x86 that could be easily adopted if it were to end its relations with Intel and still be successful. I don't think AMD has the financial means to pull something like that off without help from other big players like IBM.

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ZionEx

· #20 · Mar 16, 2009

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Originally Posted by Chucko

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Intel's not scared of anyone. They're the 800 lb gorilla of the chip industry! And Intel has always played hardball. In this case I think the lawyers went looking for something to do. They're just keeping AMD/Globalfoundries honest.

I expect this will be settled amicably (and with a few hundred million changing hands) by changing the terms of the cross license.

Intel fears to no end, Samsung. Samsung has the power to create hell for any tech manufacturer they don't care for.

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