In a joint statement the two companies commented, “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.”
Under terms of the agreement, AMD and Intel obtain patent rights from a new 5-year cross license agreement, Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion. Intel has also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions. As a result, AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in U.S. District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide. The agreement will be made public in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sources: Intel Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices
Jim Goldman reports for CNBC, “I’ve just gotten off the phone with Andy Bryant, Intel’s former Chief Financial Officer and now the company’s Chief Administrative Officer, who offered to walk me through some of the background connected to this case, and the reasons why Intel is settling the case now. I asked some very pointed questions, and Bryant, in his characteristic way, gave me some very candid, pointed answers.”
Goldman writes, “There are still some serious legal clouds hanging over Intel, but if you look closely, that may be the sun peeking through.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Citymark” for the heads up.]
1.25 BILLION!!! I hope AMD’s attorney’s were wearing Depends when they announced that judgement. Talk about new-found discretionary income.
intel wants to start looking good to the gov, they have a lot more to lose than 1.25billion if they dont play their cards right…
this is good, hopefully AMD can put this money to good use.
MDN magic word: deal
1.25B may sound like a lot of cash but it won’t even buy half a new fab today. hope the patent cross-licenses have some value or we could still see a monolithic PC processor world where Intel has complete pricing power.
Biswahoman Pani is breathing a sigh of relief.
This time last year AMD was forced fire five-hundred people to achieve a 1.5 billion “breakeven”, and now with this tidy little sum of a settlement from Intel, they’ll live another year.
They really do need to focus on more appropriate ways to make money.
I think more then the money AMD can be considered the victor in more than one way. Intel not unlike Microsoft did use it’s market penetration to undermine AMD’s business. Competition is good and AMD is still very viable.
The new “business practice provisions” that Intel will now have to abide by could be the most important part of this deal for AMD. If these put AMD in a better position to compete, this is an important victory for them. The billion+ in $$ is just the gravy, providing the capital they need to invest in new creating new products.