Intel Corp has finally settled up its differences with National Semiconductor Corp over its Cyrix Corp subsidiary, and extended the terms of its existing patent cross-licensing agreement with Intel. Nat Semi acquired Cyrix in July 1997, inheriting the patent infringement lawsuit Cyrix took out against Intel a few months earlier (CI No 3,161) in the wake of Digital Equipment Corp’s action against Intel over Alpha patents. Just months before, the two had settled an earlier dispute about Intel’s MMX multimedia extensions. Intel and Nat Semi’s cross-licensing agreement dates right back to the 1970s, and enables the two Santa Clara, California-based companies to share each other’s technology until June 2000. It’s not yet clear whether the new settlement will enable Nat Semi to disclose key Pentium II patents to Cyrix. á
