Transmeta sues Intel claiming power patent breach
I am very interested in power principles with respect to the semiconductor industry, so imagine my surprise when the following popped up on my desk this morning.
Transmeta Corp. on Wednesday said it sued Intel Corp., claiming that the world's biggest semiconductor manufacturer infringed patents covering computer architecture and power efficiency technologies.
The complaint in U.S. district court in Delaware charges that Intel is infringing 10 Transmeta patents by making and selling microprocessor products including Intel's Pentium III, Pentium 4, Pentium M, Core and Core 2 product lines, the computing technology company said.
What is amazing is that the suit claims infringements all the way back to the Pentium III architecture. How did Transmeta allow this infringement to persist for so long? More than likely, this will die away quietly with an out-of-court settlement.
