Taiwanese motherboard manufacturer First International Computer Inc has responded to the lawsuit that Intel Corp slapped it with, saying that it will continue to sell P6-based motherboards. Intel expanded its lawsuit against Via Technologies Inc this week by going after the Taiwanese firm’s customer in San Jose, California, Singapore and the UK.
In a statement FIC said: FIC acknowledges that they will respect any court decisions but are surprised that actions have been brought for the use of Via chipsets, as the case between Intel and Via has yet to be settled. The company says that it will continue to sell disputed Via components.
The legal wrangling relates back to a contested licensing agreement between the two companies. Intel claims that Via violated the agreement by releasing the Apollo PC133 chipset. Via says that Intel wants to stem the growing popularity of Via’s chipsets for Celeron and Pentium III computers. With the delay of Intel’s 820 Camino chipset, Via has had a much more of a window of an opportunity in the market than it may have expected.
Intel also brought suits against Fremont, California-based PC manufacturer Everex Systems Inc and UK distributor KMS in regard to the Via case this week.
