Intel-AMD court battle delayed until 2010

A long-running legal battle between AMD and Intel has seen its trial date delayed until 2010, both chip firms have said.

In the lawsuit originally filed in 2005, AMD accused Intel of giving computer makers illegal discounts and retaliating against manufacturers who used AMD chips or stores that gave significant shelf space to computers with AMD chips.

Intel has denied any wrongdoing.

The two sides will split 250 days to depose witnesses, with AMD getting slightly more than Intel, said AMD attorney Chuck Diamond and Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy, both of whom were at a hearing at the US District Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington.

The trial had been set for April 2009, but was pushed back to 20 February 2010, said Diamond.

AMD had asked the court for 486 depositions in hopes of proving that Intel broke the law in competing with AMD. Intel sought to limit each company to 75 depositions.

Intel will also be required to produce Edward Ho, an Intel employee in China, for a deposition, said Diamond and Mulloy by telephone. AMD hopes that Ho's testimony will help them prove their case.

Also yesterday, the Korea Fair Trade Commission in Seoul said Intel abused its dominant position in the local market and ordered a fine of $25.6 million (£13 millioin). Intel said it would almost certainly appeal

The US Federal Trade Commission has an informal probe underway into whether Intel abused its dominant position, while the New York state attorney general opened a formal probe in January.

Last July, the European Commission in Brussels charged Intel with selling chips below cost and offering customers huge rebates in an illegal attempt to drive AMD out of the market.

In Japan, the Fair Trade Commission concluded in 2005 that Intel violated the antimonopoly act. Intel disagreed with the findings but accepted the commission's recommendation, a move that avoided a trial.

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