USA & BANGALORE, INDIA: Some good news on the now long-running Intel vs. AMD duel! Intel has said that it would be happy to sit down and negotiate with GlobalFoundries about a license! However, it cannot do so until AMD and GlobalFoundries acknowledge Intel's rights under the agreement!

Right then folks, coming back to the well publicized cross-license deal, if AMD and Intel stick to their lines, Let's Make the Cross-license Deal Public... Will this help anyone?

I quizzed both Intel and AMD on this count! Intel's spokesperson's response was: "It will help the public, press and investors have a clearer understanding of the terms of the cross-license and in particular, why Intel believes AMD is in breach of that agreement."

AMD wants Intel to lift a demand that evidence submitted in its US antitrust suit against the chip maker be kept confidential. What is this all about? If it is a demand, why is it being raised?

As per Intel, this is a red herring. "That case has nothing to do with this contract. AMD knows very well that the information in the US antitrust case is confidential under a protective order signed by the Court. AMD was part of the process of drafting that protective order and knows very well that Intel cannot change it nor can AMD," the Intel spokesperson added.

Why is it also being said that Intel's actions have violated the cross-license agreement? Isn't that claim and then counter claim?

Intel said that AMD's theory is that Intel has breached the agreement by implementing the dispute resolution process outlined in the cross-license agreement. "That is not what the agreement says. If AMD is right then there is no dispute resolution process, which is not the case," it said.

An Intel spokesman had also said Intel was willing to make the agreement made public, but added that AMD had prevented this from happening. I requested both Intel and AMD to clear this up!

Intel's response was: "In 2001 or 2002, AMD published a redacted (partial) agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Portions of the agreement are related directly to this dispute, Intel has suggested multiple times that the entire agreement be published to provide the clarity  outlined above. AMD has refused.  Intel is bound by that agreement and can't unilaterally make the rest of the agreement public."

How is all this helping the industry?
Duel, you may, but folks, at the end of the day, how is this duelling helping the global semiconductor industry?

The Intel spokesperson said: "Our view is that AMD has a license agreement with Intel. Cross-licensing has long been a cornerstone of this industry. However, given the value of the IP assets at stake, we must continue to protect our IP and we do not believe that AMD can transfer those assets to a third party without the consent of Intel. 

"We would be happy to sit down and negotiate with GlobalFoundries about a license. However, we cannot do so until AMD and GlobalFoundries acknowledge our rights under the agreement."

In the meantime, I am awaiting AMD's response to the same set of questions...

It never pays to take your battles to public, really! It is AMD's turn to respond to Intel's call. A sit-down discussion could well see some result out of all this. In its current state, the global semiconductor industry can ill afford such 'misadventures'!