IP: accidental law suit?

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 09:23:05 -0700 (PDT)
>From: E M <e_j_m@yahoo.com>
>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>
>Ooops.  Sorry.  Didn't mean to file a lawsuit against you after all.
>:)
>
>
>http://www.wired.com/news/print_version/business/story/19486.html?wnpg=all
>
>Intel: To Sue Is Human Leander Kahney
>
>2:15 p.m.  4.May.99.PDT Via Technologies got a surprise package in the
>mail last week from a potential business partner -? court documents
>that were labeled "Intel" inside.
>
>Intel had been negotiating a deal to cross license technologies with
>the Taiwanese chipmaker, and filed a suit in US District Court
>accidentally, according to Intel officials.
>
>The lawsuit was a "draft," prepared as a contingency in case talks
>broke down. It was meant to sit in the files until needed.
>
>"It was a mistake," explained Intel spokesman Chuck Malloy. "It was a
>clerical error at an outside law firm.... We had no intention of
>filing suit at this stage."
>
>The suit was submitted to the US District Court in San Jose,
>California, on 28 April. Once submitted, the complaint could not be
>withdrawn. Intel filed for dismissal of the case the same day.
>
>Malloy declined to reveal any details of the case, except to say that
>it concerned ongoing licensing discussions between the two companies
>regarding Intel's P6 bus for chipsets.
>
>"The license is confidential," Malloy said. "Both companies had some
>issues, and we are in ongoing discussion about them."
>
>Malloy said he didn't know how VIA took the surprise lawsuit. He said
>Intel did contact VIA and apologized for the mistake.
>
>Malloy said the firm in question, Brown & Bain of Phoenix, had worked
>with Intel for years. As far as he knew, no heads rolled for the
>slip-up.
>
>Dean Hays, director of marketing at VIA's US office in Fremont,
>California, said, "Nobody said anything to me about it. How can you do
>something like that by accident?"
>
>However, Hays said VIA had reached an agreement with Intel to license
>its P6 bus technology in April, just after Spring Comdex.
>
>Hays said the deal likely boosted Intel's P6 processor business by
>helping to make the associated bus technology a standard. But at the
>same time, it may have hurt its struggling chipset business.
>
>Hays speculated that Intel's chipset executives were upset with the
>processor executives for making the deal.
>
>"Intel VPs have to compete against each other," he said. "I don't
>think the chipset VPs were all that thrilled about it."
>
>
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