AMD, Intel to meet in court

AMD is trying to boost the European Commission's anti-trust investigation into Intel by bringing documents relating to anti-trust allegations made against the chip giant in the US available to the EC probe.

On 1 October, AMD filed a suit in the San Jose District Court seeking the release to EC investigators of expert witness testimonies presented to the court during Intergraph's anti-trust and patent violation action against Intel.

Integraph alleged that Intel was refusing to disclose essential technical details regarding its processors to companies that had challenged it at any time. However, that claim was rejected by the court two years ago.

Still, reckons AMD, the testimony Intergraph used to argue its case could be useful to EC anti-trust officials investigating anti-comptetion allegations made against Intel by... er... AMD in October 2000.

"We believe many of the issues in the Intergraph case were similar to the questions under investigation by the EC," said an AMD spokesmand, according to EBN. "Specifically, AMD believes that Intel as a de facto monopoly is obligated to provide specifications to the market on certain key interfaces. As a monopoly, Intel uses its power to decide how its (external) interface specifications will be disclosed and to whom. Intel uses its anticompetitive actions to dictate who will succeed in the market or who won't."

Intel, not surprisingly, isn't impressed, and is resisting AMD's demands. It believes the documents are not relevant and that AMD has no right to ask for them to be transferred to an overseas authority - that's something the EC itself must do. Intel also says the AMD complaint has no merit.

Intel and AMD lawyers will meet in the San Jose District Court - Judge William A Ingram presiding - on 12 November. ®

Related Link

EBN: Intel and AMD battle over antitrust documents