Intel and Micron Technology have parted ways from the IMFlash Technology joint-venture that set out to win the emerging non-volatile memory market with limited success. The two are now locked in numerous legal skirmishes arising from the disjointing of a major high-technology alliance, as employees migrate to either company. One such former Intel engineering-manager is in the middle of a legal spat, named Doyle Rivers. Rivers jumped ship from Intel to Micron Technology, allegedly carrying with him a large amount of trade-secrets and IP related to Intel's 3D XPoint memory and Optane products.

Intel Tuesday secured a preliminary injunction from the US District Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, which tells Rivers to not possess, use, or disclose any confidential Intel information related to the company's 3D XPoint or Optane products, including personnel working on those products; and to return any such possessions to Intel. Rivers' defense claims Intel gets nothing from this injunction. In a telephonic interview with The Register, Daniel Sakaguchi, a partner at Alto Litigation in San Francisco, representing Rivers, stated "Mr. Rivers doesn't have anything to return," adding "We continue to take the position that Intel's claims are greatly exaggerated."