AST Research Inc is very cross that it doesn’t seem to be getting the same benefits from Texas Instruments Inc as Tandy Corp’s personal computer business got before it was bought by AST: the Irvine, California micromaker is suing Texas over the issue, and notes that the benefits result in part from an option in a prior patent settlement between Texas and Tandy, and AST reckons the option contractually entitles AST to pay reduced patent royalty rates, the same as rates paid by some of its competitors; the lawsuit also alleges that Texas has violated the federal antitrust laws and the California Unfair Practices Act, which prohibit secret and discriminatory discounts given to competing customers, and alleges that some Texas patents are invalid or inapplicable, and that Texas is infringing an AST patent.
