Intel Corp’s appeal against the preliminary injunction won by Intergraph Corp in April (CI No 3,388) was heard by a federal appeals panel in Washington yesterday, with Intel Corp saying it hadn’t abused its market position by denying technical information to the workstation company. The trial is important as a prelude to the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust suit, scheduled to begin next February. Intel asked the panel to overturn the injunction, which compels Intel to supply Intergraph with advanced product information, advanced samples, early production chips and the production chips itself, so that Intergraph can continue in business while the case goes through the courts. Intel argued that the dispute was over its decision to end an agreement to trade technical information and patents, something it had every right to do. Questions over its monopoly position in the chip market didn’t apply, as Intergraph is not a competitor in the chip space. Intergraph’s patent claims come from a now defunct RISC chip, the Fairchild Clipper. Intergraph argues that Intel wanted it to give up its intellectual property rights in return for continued access to Intel technology. It claims it would be out of business without the injunction in place. A decision on the ruling will follow.
