
CANADIAN LAWSUIT TARGETS INTEL
SANTA CLARA - 05/24/04 - Computer chip giant Intel has been targeted with a lawsuit brought by a small Canadian computer company charging the Northern California firm with patent infringement.
The suit - filed last week in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, by Toronto-based All Computers Inc. - charges Intel with violating its patent rights by using circuitry it developed in Pentium processors without a license.
The circuitry in question controls the frequency of input of the processors and, according to experts, are used in virtually every computer in the world. The Canadian company alleges that Intel has been infringing on their client's patent since 1998, and that the company has earned billions from the sale of computers that contain the circuitry.
The suit asks for $500 million in damages.
Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy told reporters that the suit "is without merit" and that the company plans "a vigorous defense."
According to a spokesman for All Computers, the technology was developed by Mers Kutt, who started the Canadian company in 1971, who received a patent for the circuitry in 1996.
Kutt, the spokesman said, contacted Intel officials "after he learned they were using his patent and offered to license it to the company, but he was ignored."
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