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Yoinked from cnet...
Intel and Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the two chipmakers.
The pact covers both antitrust litigation and patent cross-license disputes, which have been churning since 2004.
Under terms of the agreement, the two companies will obtain patent rights from a new five-year cross-license agreement and will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement.
In addition, Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion and has agreed to "abide by a set of business practice provisions."
In turn, AMD says it will drop all pending litigation, including the case in U.S. District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan, and will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide.
The companies will host conference calls this morning to discuss the agreement.
"While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development," the chipmakers said in a joint statement.
Well, probably not all their efforts exactly. The settlement between the companies doesn't stop antitrust cases brought by governments.
After AMD filed its case in 2004, European regulators brought a separate case that led to a $1.5 billion fine, which Intel is now appealing. And last week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed another antitrust suit against Intel.
"Those cases filed by those government regulators will continue," Intel spokesman Tom Beerman said. "We will continue at the same time to work with the regulatory bodies to work on those issues."
Added AMD's Drew Prairie, "We've notified the regulatory authorities of the settlement. They didn't have ongoing investigations because of us...That's a snowball rolling downhill."
The cross-license agreement has been updated to reflect AMD's move to spin off its processor manufacturing business into a separate company, Globalfoundries, which currently is an AMD subsidiary. Under the updated agreement, AMD will be able to operate as a "fabless" processor company--one that relies on others to build its chips. In addition, and Globalfoundries "is free to operate independently and go after third-party business without issues," Prairie said.
According to AMD, Intel will refrain from these practices:
• Offering inducements to customers in exchange for their agreement to buy all of their microprocessor needs from Intel, whether on a geographic, market segment, or any other basis
• Offering inducements to customers in exchange for their agreement to limit or delay their purchase of microprocessors from AMD, whether on a geographic, market segment, or any other basis
• Offering inducements to customers in exchange for their agreement to limit their engagement with AMD or their promotion or distribution of products containing AMD microprocessors, whether on a geographic, channel, market segment, or any other basis
• Offering inducements to customers in exchange for their agreement to abstain from or delay their participation in AMD product launches, announcements, advertising, or other promotional activities
• Offering inducements to customers or others to delay or forebear in the development or release of computer systems or platforms containing AMD microprocessors, whether on a geographic, market segment, or any other basis
• Offering inducements to retailers or distributors to limit or delay their purchase or distribution of computer systems or platforms containing AMD microprocessors, whether on a geographic, market segment, or any other basis
• Withholding any benefit or threatening retaliation against anyone for their refusal to enter into a prohibited arrangement such as the ones listed above.
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