| Tuesday May 13 7:06 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation Sues Intel Corporation For Violating
Microprocessor Architecture Patents
Lawsuit maintains Intel infringed Digital patented technology to enhance
performance of Pentium, Pentium Pro and Pentium II microprocessors
WORCESTER, Mass., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Equipment Corporation
(NYSE:DEC) has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, District of
Massachusetts, here charging Intel Corporation (Nasdaq:INTC) with willful
infringement of 10 Digital patents in making, using and selling
microprocessor products, including its Pentium, Pentium Pro and Pentium II
microprocessor families.
Alleging that Intel's patent infringement has caused Digital economic
injury and, if not stopped, would cause irreparable harm, the company seeks
both an injunction and monetary damages, including triple damages for
Intel's willful violation of the patents. The injunction would prohibit
Intel from using Digital's patented technology in its present and future
microprocessor products.
``Over the years, Digital has made substantial investments in developing
computing architectures and microprocessor technology,'' said Digital
Chairman Robert B. Palmer. ``It is our duty to our shareholders, customers,
partners and employees to protect our intellectual property rights and the
benefits of our industry-leading research and development efforts.''
The patents cited in Digital's lawsuit protect Digital's innovations in
high-performance computing architecture and micro-processor technology. The
patents relate to technologies -- cache management, branch prediction and
high-speed instruction processing -- which are vital to state-of-the-art
microprocessor design. The patents were issued by the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office between 1988 and 1996.
``In developing its VAX and Alpha products, Digital significantly advanced
computer architectures and microprocessor design,'' Palmer said. ``Intel's
unauthorized use of Digital's technology to significantly enhance the
performance of its microprocessors violates Digital's legal rights.
``As a result of its infringement of our patents,'' Palmer continued,
``Intel has strengthened its monopoly in the X86 market and is seeking to
extend its monopoly to higher-performance microprocessors. This conduct
threatens the competitive environment essential for continued innovation
and growth in the computer industry.''
Thomas C. Siekman, Digital vice president and general counsel, said, ``This
lawsuit is essential to protect the billions of dollars Digital and its
shareholders have invested in the development of leading-edge computing and
microprocessor technology.''
Digital Equipment Corporation is a world leader in open client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information
systems. Digital's scalable Alpha and X86 platforms, storage, networking,
software and services, together with industry-focused solutions from
business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global
marketplace.
Note: Digital, the Digital logo, VAX are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation. Pentium, Pentium Pro and Pentium II are trademarks of Intel
Corporation.
SOURCE: Digital Equipment Corporation
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| Extracted from http://www.boston.com/globe/eco/14dectext.htm
July 5, 1988, United States Patent No. 4,755,936 titled ``Apparatus And
Method For Providing A Cache Memory Unit With A Write Operation Utilizing
Two System Clock Cycles''
July 11, 1989, United States Patent No. 4,847,804 titled ``Apparatus And
Method For Data Copy Consistency In A Multi-Cache Data Processing Unit''
February 25, 1992, United States Patent No. 5,091,845 titled ``System For
Controlling The Storage Of Information In A Cache Memory,''
June 23, 1992, United States Patent No. 5,125,083 titled ``Method And
Apparatus For Resolving A Variable Number Of Potential Memory Access
Conflicts In A Pipelined Computer System''
September 15, 1992, United States Patent No. 5,148,536 titled ``Pipeline
Having An Integral Cache Which Processes Cache Misses And Loads Data In
Parallel''
January 12, 1993, United States Patent No. 5.179,673 titled ``Subroutine
Return Prediction Mechanism Using Ring Buffer And Comparing Predicated
Address With Actual Address To Validate Or Flush The Pipeline''
March 23, 1993, United States Patent No. 5, 197, 132 titled ``Register
Mapping System Having A Log Containing Sequential Listing of Registers That
Were Changed In Preceding Cycles For Precise Post-Branch Recovery''
February 28, 1995. United States Patent No. 5.394.529 titled `Branch
Prediction Unit For High-Performance Processors'
July 4, 1995, United Sates No. 5.430.888 titled ``Pipeline Utilizing An
Integral Cache For Transferring Data To And From A Register ''
October 22, 1996, United states Patent No. 5.568.624 titled ``Byte-Compare
Operation For High-Performance Processor''
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