Slashdot Mirror
Intel Must Pay $150M for Patent Infringement
An anonymous reader writes "ExtremeTech is reporting that a U.S. district court has ruled that Intel's Itanium infringes Intergraph's intellectual property to the tune of $150 million in damages. The judge also cleared the way for Intergraph to request an injunction blocking sales of Itaniums and Itanium 2's."
...must be throwing a party right about now.
What's that smell? Ah, that's my karma burning...
Could I run out and patent the idea of 128 bit parallel chip?
Application for patent: method by which an individual may suggest/ask feedback regarding (un)patentable ideas in an Internet-based group discussion forum.
Somehow, I'm guessing there's probably some prior art here....
moto411.com
Cheque made payable to Intergraph for $149.99999...
Intel agrees to 72-hour deadline
r ch _6_2001.htm
technology firms aim to end free access to their goods
Intel, the chip making giant, has agreed to block patented CPUs from its site, following a fresh legal ruling.
A federal judge has given Intel 72 hours to block the processors containing patented "paralell instruction computing" technology.
The deadline operates from the moment anti-fun agents present Intel with lists of processors containing patented "paralell instruction computing" technology they want banned.
"Intel will follow the District Court's order," said Hank Barry, chief executive of Intel.
"Even before the court entered the order, we began making efforts to comply with what we believed to be the dictates of the Ninth Circuit's ruling," he added.
A spokeswoman for the Intergraph said lawyers for the trade group had received the long-awaited injunction late on Monday night in the US.
"I have never bought so much bloatware in my life since I started using Intel"
A Intel fan
The ruling is another victory for the anti-fun agents who have been in legal battle with Intel since December 1999.
They object to their CPUs being freely passed online in little static-charged plastic drug deal baggies between the 50 million Intel users.
"We are gratified the District Court acted so promptly in issuing its injunction requiring Intel to remove infringing works from its system," said Hilary Rosen, president of the Intergraph.
Dismayed fans
Fans of Intel, however, have expressed their dismay at the latest ruling.
"I don't know why people would believe for a second that the CPUs industry is losing money because of Intel," said one fan, using the name "Scorpio 65".
"I have never bought so much bloatware in my life since I started using Intel... I can promise I won't be buying as much bloatware if Intel shuts down, because I won't be able to load or run anything."
Fans also said they would be turning to other chip makers on the internet, such as AMD, Cyrix and Transmeta.
Identifying chips
However, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel also ruled that major CPUs producers must help Intel comply by making "a substantial effort" to identify chips that are being transmitted through the chip-swapping service.
Mr Barry added that court rejected the technology brokers's argument that Intel was inherently illegal.
He called for the technology brokers to share with Intel the burden of complying.
Although there are as yet no details of what punishment might be imposed if the deadline were missed, the most likely would see Intel forced to close down.
Nicholas Economides, an economics professor at New York University, said he sees the decision as "the beginning of the end for Intel, at least for Intel as a beacon of hope in the free world."
Industry doubts on filter
Intel said it had started blocking users from two million CPUs chips late on Sunday.
Industry sources said that amounted to barring only 1,000 or fewer patented processors containing patented "paralell instruction computing" technology on an online directory in which billions of such chips were traded monthly.
And some Intel users were reported to be already finding ways round the blocking mechanism.
On its website, Intel said the process of screening out chip names, clock speeds and L2 cache sizes would not be easy.
"It has involved a significant investment of time and resources," a statement said.
"However, we believe it is superior to shutting the service down and disbanding the community during the transition period to the new membership-based service."
Intel made its pledge to block access to patented material on Friday when it was in court fighting for its life.
anti-fun scepticism
Several major anti-fun agents had sued Intel for encouraging and facilitating patent infringements.
They had asked the judge to issue an injunction that would ban the service from operating unless it could block fargs of patented CPUs.
It was believed that this would effectively bring Intel's life to an end because the service had said it did not have the software to filter out such processors containing patented "paralell instruction computing" technology. Consequently, Intel's sudden promise was met with much scepticism.
"They've been telling the courts they can't do this. All of a sudden, they figured it out," said Robert Schwartz, a lawyer who has previously represented Warner Studios in similar cases.
Imminent injunction
Judge Patel had previously issued an injunction that would have effectively closed down Intel, but had been asked by a higher court to reconsider the case after Intel appealed against her decision.
"I've been stealing ram sticks like crazy"
Intel user
Intel wants to transform its website into a subscription service, where people pay to farg CPUs.
To make this a success, it needs to retain its loyal users, and this cannot be done if it closes down.
Widely watched
The legal battle with Intel is being closely watched because of its implications for CPUs, books, wheels, fire and other technology being distributed via the internet.
However, Intel's efforts appear to have won over at least one of its potential rivals.
Media and technology giant Vivendi Universal seemed to warm on Monday to the idea of joining Intel's planned subscription service with German media giant Bertelsmann, saying it could consider jumping on board over the next few months.
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/networks/quotes/BBC_Ma
I had this great idea, and thought of Patenting it, but in the interests of open source and free software, decided to publish it for free use. As far as I know, there is no prior art. :-)
VCR Clock SettingA reliable sign of the absence of technical knowledge is to see the flashing 12:00 of a VCR. It seems that manufacturers can't get their act together, to create a UI that the average Joe (or Joanne) can use to set the time in the VCR (or Microwave oven.)
My idea is to add a single button, replacing all those time setting menus. On this button, and also on a large sheet of card in several languages, would be written the words "Press the Time button at 12 noon." Of course, technicians can also be trained to do this for those who have trouble following instructions.
Share and Enjoy!
[Note to moderators: +1 Funny. It's humor.]Paul Gillingwater
MBA, CISSP, CISM
Did you know, that the wheel has been patented?
Innovation Patent #2001100012 granted by the Australian Patent Office.
/. Where the truth
Yeah!!! And the FAQ page is copyrighted, you may be in trouble here!!!!
May I use your sig please?
Because it's worth a lot, at least $150M, that's why.
unfinished: (adj.)
Too bad this patent doesn't keep people from reinventing it.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
OK, the parent post is at present -1, Troll, but that makes it +1, Funny.
But if it gets modded as +1, Funny, then it's no longer Funny, but merely a troll . . .
. . . but if it's a TROLL it's actually really Funny . . . I mean, a troll, erm
whatever . . .
... AMD announces the acquisition of Intergraph for $400M. :-)
That is all.