Intel lawsuit spreads to Europe

The fight against Via gets meaner...

Intel has extended its lawsuit against Via Technologies into Europe. Intel initially filed its legal fight with Taiwan-based Via in a US District Court in Delaware, over chipsets released by Via that matched Intel's Pentium 4 processor. Now Intel has extended the suit into Europe and further afield by filing patent infringement suits in the UK and Germany as well as Hong Kong. The company claims that Via's P4X266 and P4M266 chipsets violated Intel's patents. Via disputed the contention and has filed its own patent infringement case in Texas. Via, along with its subsidiary Centaur Technology, claims that the design of the Pentium 4 violates patents underlying its own microprocessors. Intel is also alleging that Via's C3 microprocessor violates patents owned by Intel. Peter Detkin, Intel VP and assistant general counsel, defended Intel's suits by stating the amount of money the company has to spend in research and development to develop new patented inventions that have value to Intel's customers. "Those inventions and the underlying intellectual property are the cornerstone of our business and significant assets. Like any other valuable asset, Intel has obligation to its shareholders to protect the value of its intellectual property," Detkin said in a statement.