Wednesday, October 23rd 2019
Intel files an Anti-trust Case Against SoftBank-owned Tech Firm
Intel filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Fortress Investment Group, a firm owned by Japan's SoftBank, over alleged malpractices with their patents. Intel alleges that the company stockpiled patents to make a living out of IP disputes with other companies, including Intel. The complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose alleges that Fortress bought up over 1,000 U.S. technology patents, some of which include patents from NXP Semiconductors. It's now using these patents to get Intel to pay up a royalty on every processor sold since 2011. SoftBank bought Fortress in 2017 for USD $3.3 billion as part of a massive takeover of the tech world. One of SoftBank's other priced possessions include ARM.
The lawsuit alleges a motive behind Fortress's behavior. "One way in which Fortress has tried to turn around its performance and justify SoftBank's investment in it is through increased speculation on patent assertions," the lawsuit says. Intel accused Fortress of patent-trolling, alleging that the company's move to soak up tech patents constitutes anti-competitive behavior as it's driven by the idea that the patents would cost less than what other tech companies would pay up to avert an IP lawsuit.
Source:
Reuters
The lawsuit alleges a motive behind Fortress's behavior. "One way in which Fortress has tried to turn around its performance and justify SoftBank's investment in it is through increased speculation on patent assertions," the lawsuit says. Intel accused Fortress of patent-trolling, alleging that the company's move to soak up tech patents constitutes anti-competitive behavior as it's driven by the idea that the patents would cost less than what other tech companies would pay up to avert an IP lawsuit.
22 Comments on Intel files an Anti-trust Case Against SoftBank-owned Tech Firm
I believe them though, they are the champions of anti-competitive behavior after all so they should know.
Not that patent trolls don't need to be rooted out and stomped on, but this is a bit silly.
You should be pulling hard for Intel here.
Also, a good rule for patent trolling is don't go after big megacorperations who stand a decent chance at publicly obliterating you..
What goes around comes around.
Though I think it's all a cesspool.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pot_calling_the_kettle_black
Intel market share dropped below 80% (but only to 77%), since the resurgence of AMD, however they are still a monopoly.
Government should investigate first the X86 perpetual licence that they have, which extended well over the initial 15 year grant suggested by the patent law.
I get it there where few extensions to the tech since then, however the most important update (x86-64) was introduced by AMD not Intel.
ARM based Tegra already existed by that point, Denver was supposed to be that x86-to-ARM chip which ended up being just an ARM core.