Judge's Ruling Boosts Intel's Position in AMD Lawsuit
On Tuesday, September 26 a U.S. federal judge, citing his lack of jurisdiction outside the United States, issued a decision granting a motion by microchip giant Intel to exclude the foreign claims elements of the lawsuit filed against them last year by rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

In the lawsuit AMD alleged anti-competitive conduct on the part of Intel to boost its overall market position. Judge Joseph Farnan will meet with representatives from both sides of the case to discuss future proceedings.

Specifically the AMD lawsuit targets x86 microprocessors utilized in PC operating systems including Solaris, Linux, and Windows. The suit alleges that Intel pressured customers including Acer, Fujitsu, and NEC to accept exclusive arrangements for chip purchases that shut out or capped those customers' purchases of AMD chips.

Since much of the basis of the AMD claims centered on damages sought for foreign sales of German-produced, Asian-assembled microprocessors, Farnan's decision tak es a great deal of the momentum away from the case.

Farnan specifically said in his ruling that AMD had not demonstrated that the "alleged foreign conduct of Intel has direct, substantial and foreseeable effects in the United States which gives rise to its claim."

The decision does not, however, end Intel's legal woes. Just weeks ago the European Commission (EC) broadened its own anti-competition investigation into the chipmaker's practices. Currently investigators in Brussels are looking into allegations there that Intel worked to convince Media Markt, a retail chain, to halt sales of PCs using AMD chips.

Judge Farnan's characterization of the foreign claims in the AMD lawsuit referred to activities on the part of Intel that could have a potential "ripple effect" in the United States but he did not conclude those actions to warrant an antitrust claim, a significant boon to Intel's efforts to throw off the lawsuit.