Confidential
Settlement – $300,000,000Judge
Court
USDC Alabama
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
Following a court-imposed mediation, plaintiff Intergraph Corporation settled its 4-year-old lawsuit against Intel
Corporation. The case centered on computer chip technology that Intergraph, in Huntsville, Ala. patented.
Intergraph was a computer system vendor before it transferred the focus of its business to software and
services.
While admitting no liability, Intel agreed to pay Intergraph $300 million for a patent license as part of the
settlement and to purchase various chip technology patents from Intergraph that were not related to the case.
Additionally, the two companies have agreed to license other technology from each other.
The plaintiff, Intergraph, claimed that after several years of mutually beneficial work, Intel, in 1996, began to
make unreasonable demands for royalty-free rights to Intergraph patents already being used in Intel
microprocessors.
When Intergraph refused, Intergraph claimed, Intel abused its monopoly power by engaging in a series of
illegal coercive actions intended to force Intergraph to give Intel access to the patents.
With no other source of suitable high-end processors available and with its hardware business under serious
threat because of Intel's actions, Intergraph sought court protection by filing a lawsuit on Nov. 17, 1997. The
lawsuit asserted claims against Intel in three areas, illegal coercive behavior, patent infringement and antitrust
violations.
The defendant denied all of Intergraph's allegations.
Damages
Intergraph had originally sought damages from Intel Corporation totalling more than $2.2 billion.
Other Information
Intel agreed to pay Intergraph $300 million as part of the settlement and to purchase various chip technology patents from Intergraph that were not related to the case. The antitrust claims against Intel were ultimately dismissed on a summary judgment that was affirmed on appeal.
Length
four years
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