The patent infringement legal battle between Digital Equipment Corp and Intel Corp which began last May (CI No 3,160) is expected to be a closed case on Wednesday with the announcement of a $1.6bn out-of-court settlement, according to a Reuters report. The report, which quotes an analyst at Loewenbaum & Co, says Intel would pay DEC about half of the settlement in cash and make up the rest in discounts on Intel chips. The settlement apparently also includes a licensing agreement which would allow Intel to use DEC’s Alpha microprocessor technology, while Intel would help DEC develop products based on the Alpha architecture. A court hearing in Intel’s retaliatory suit against DEC (CI No 3,170) had previously been scheduled for Thursday in San Jose, but may now be abandoned. Neither company could be reached for comment.
