FTC Said to Be Readying Antitrust Suit Vs. Intel

Government reportedly considering two antitrust suits against the giant chip maker.

Rebecca Sykes, IDG News Service

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is considering two antitrust suits against the chip giant, according to a report in USA Today.

The first suit, expected to be filed in weeks, will charge Intel with withholding technology from customers and from companies with which it is having disputes, according to the report.

Earlier this month, a U.S. district court granted Intergraph an injunction against Intel in a lawsuit that accuses the company of patent infringement, anticompetitive behavior, and violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ordered Intel to provide the workstation manufacturer with access to advanced product information, chip samples, and production chips relating to certain Intel products, and said in its ruling that "the deliberate termination of the parties' relationship by Intel ... is unconscionable," according to an Intergraph statement. The court was responding to Intergraph's charges that Intel used access to certain nondisclosure agreements and contracts to force Intergraph to relinquish patent licenses.

Intel also denied Digital Equipment access to chip specifications while the companies were embroiled in legal disputes last year. The disputes were settled last October when Digital sold its semiconductor manufacturing operations to Intel for $700 million, but the FTC wants to prevent Intel from engaging in such "retaliatory tactics" in the future, according to the USA Today report.

The FTC was not immediately available for comment.

The FTC is also assessing whether Intel unfairly requires computer vendors who license its chips to buy other Intel devices, though that charge is less certain to be filed, according to the report.

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