It is a good time to be an IP lawyer in the semiconductor industry; there is a legal free for all going on.  The newest case is Intel versus nVIDIA and nVIDIA versus Intel, as they are both suing each other over the cross licensing agreement that may or may not be changed.  As it stands, Intel is planning on denying nVIDIA access to the necessary licenses to produce chipsets for the Nehalem processor, while nVIDIA feels that Intel’s current IGP as well as Larrabee both utilize nVIDIA patents.  Follow the drama at DigiTimes.

“Nvidia has officially filed a counter suit with the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware against Intel for breach of contract. In the suit, Nvidia accused Intel of making an opportunistic bid to redefine the terms of their 2004 cross-licensing agreement in order to make it impossible for Nvidia to make any kind of chipset covered by the license, while “conveniently” preserving Intel’s access to Nvidia’s IP portfolio.

By publicly announcing that Nvidia is not licensed to sell chipsets for next generation Nehalem CPUs, Intel has caused alarm among Nvidia’s customers, which is having an impact on sales, even for chipsets that are not under dispute, said Nvidia in the suit.”

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