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Intel, Intergraph Settle In Hyperthreading Suit
Sir Pallas writes "Intel settled a patent infringement suit over SSE and Hyperthreading for $225mil with Intergraph. Furthermore, Dell, also named in the suit, claims that their indemnity agreement with Intel applies in this case and requires Intel to take any bullets headed Dell's way." Update: 03/31 17:49 GMT by T : philthedrill writes "The Intel/Intergraph article title is incorrect. Technically," (according to this story at out-law.com), "Intel/Dell and Intergraph settled a longstanding suit which dealt with Itanium (not SSE/Hyperthreading). Another company, MicroUnity, is now suing Intel and Dell over SSE and Hyperthreading."
I know this isn't the politically correct point to make on
In the early to mid-nineties, Intel was having problems with their next generation CPU architecture, so they called in the guys from Intergraph for some help. Intel then proceeded to steal almost every piece of intellectual property that Intergraph possessed, stuck a knife squarely in Intergraph's back, and walked right out the door.
Fast forward to the late-nineties: IBM was having problems with their next generation UNIX-ish operating system, so they called in the guys from SCO for some help. Their joint venture was called "Project Monterey," and was a make-or-break gamble for a tiny company like SCO, i.e. SCO staked their future on the product that would emerge from the colloboration. IBM then appears [yes, this will have to be determined in a court of law] to have stolen almost every piece of intellectual property that SCO possessed, stuck a knife squarely in SCO's back, and walked right out the door.
There was a time when the /. types who claim to care about "the little guy" would have been appalled at IBM's behavior, but I guess too many people around here have drunk the Richard Stallman/Karl Marx koolaid to give a damn about things like the foundation of a republic under the rule of law.
PS: Back in the day, Intergraph had some awesome technology, but it almost seems as though they were too far ahead of their time to succeed in yesteryear's marketplace. If you enjoy surfing eBay for old hardware, you'll find things like Intergraph Quad-CPU Pentium servers [that's Pentium, NOT Pentium Pro, although they also made Quad-CPU Pentium Pros, as well], huge Intergraph ADC [analog to digital conversion] drafting tabletops for architects & designers, old Intergraph video acceleration cards that are, to this day, competitive with ATI/nVidia/Matrox, etc.
As a result, I found a guy about 25 miles from me who makes a living servicing old Intergraph rigs - he has a small warehouse filled with massive Intergraph 27"+ monitors that must weigh about a ton each. I really wanted [and still want] to get some, but they draw so much amperage that they practically need their own line to the circuit breaker box. [If you're interested, his eBay store is here. No affiliation.]