A LEGAL battle between Intel and Digital has escalated when Intel countersued Digital and suggested it may stop providing its Pentium chips to the personal computer maker within months.
Intel, the world's dominant supplier of semiconductors used in personal computers including a broad range of PCs made by Digital, said it sued Digital alleging that it refused Intel requests to return confidential Intel information. Intel is one the biggest employers in Ireland, with over 3,000 employed at its plant in Leixlip.
A spokesman for Intel also said the company believes that its con tracts to supply its highly popular Pentiums to Digital extend only through the third quarter of this year.
The Intel suit comes two weeks after Digital shocked the industry by filing a lawsuit claiming Intel's Pentium family of semiconductors had violated Digital patents Digital said the Pentium chips violated patents associated with Digital's Alpha chips an advanced microprocessor it had sought unsuccessfully to position as a mainstream rival to Intel chips.
While both Digital and Intel manufacture microprocessors, Digital's Alpha chips are largely used in powerful business and research computers, while Intel's chips are used in a wide range of personal computers.
Intel said it asked Digital to return confidential information pertaining to Intel products that it had transferred to Digital in recent years, but Digital refused, prompting the Intel suit.
The Intel spokesman said the company also took issue with recent assertions by Digital that the computer maker has "longstanding supply agreements with Intel".
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