Transmeta slaps Intel with patent suit

By Tom Sanders on Oct 13, 2006 11:51 AM
Filed under Hardware

Chip giant accused of infringing on 10 patents.

Transmeta has filed a lawsuit against Intel, accusing the chip giant of infringing on 10 patents covering computer architecture and power efficiency technologies.

Transmeta alleged that Intel infringed on its intellectual property in the Pentium III, Pentium 4, Pentium M, Core and Core 2 product lines.

The company is demanding that Intel stops selling the products, and makes unspecified damages and royalty payments.

Transmeta tried unsuccessfully to launch an x86 processor in 2000. The company's Crusoe chip stood out through its modest power consumption, but failed to attract a large following among PC manufacturers.

Intel and AMD soon caught up with the technology from Transmeta, which once employed Linux creator Linus Torvalds.

Transmeta ceased production of Crusoe in June 2005 and instead focused on developing its power efficient Longrun2 technology. The company has licensed Longrun2 to Sony for implementation in the Cell processor.

A spokesman for Intel said that the company had not seen the complaint and was unable to comment.