IBM Corp has a big loss on its books as a result of its backing of Steve Chen’s failed Supercomputer Systems Inc, but will recoup some of its outlay from a deal under which Cray Research Inc has bought rights to some of the technology that was developed by Chen’s company – Chen was of course a Cray employee before going off to form Supercomputer after his project was cancelled. Cray is buying the unidentified technology from Supercomputer Systems Ltd Partnership, which is largely owned by IBM, and terms weren’t disclosed. Cray says it does not plan to develop new products based on the technologies but might incorporate them in future products. Cray also extended its patent cross-licensing pact with IBM, which now runs to the end of the decade.
