Judge orders Intel to pay Intergraph $150M

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas suspended the injunction for 30 days to permit Intel to pay Intergraph the US$150 million.

Intel is expected to appeal the final judgment.

The case was filed in the US District Court for Eastern District of Texas on July 29, 2001. The case went to trial on July 2, 2002, and the parties made final closing arguments on August 29.

On October 10, the court ruled that Intergraph's PIC patents were valid, enforceable, and infringed by Intel's Itanium and Itanium 2 products. The court also ruled that Intergraph was entitled to an injunction on Intel's Itanium and Itanium 2 processors.

Intel's request for a new trial was denied on October 25.

Intel must pay US$150 million no later than November 29, or face a permanent injunction. The $150 million payment is non-refundable, regardless of any outcome on appeal.

According to Intergraph, upon payment of the US$150 million, Intel has three options: (1) Intel can pay an additional US$100 million to immediately license the PIC patents, (2) Intel can appeal the decision and will have to pay an additional US$100 million only if it fails to prevail on appeal, or (3) Intel may design around the infringement.

However, any design-around must be approved by the Texas Court and implemented in the next release of Itanium.