Intel Corp. said Wednesday it has settled the pending patent infringement lawsuit with First International Computer Inc. (FIC), a Taiwanese manufacturer of motherboards and PC systems.
Terms of the settlement were kept confidential, but involve a licensing agreement between the companies covering certain patents, the companies said in a brief statement.
The four patents in question (U.S. patent numbers 5,579,522; 5,930,504; 4,897,812 and 5,560,001) cover areas including video graphics, power management and the ability to update the BIOS software of PCs, according to Miles K.C. Chen, at FIC’s Legal Department in Taipei.
The settlement means that there are no longer any lawsuits or legal action pending between FIC and Intel, said Chen.
FIC was also named in a complaint Intel filed in January 2000 with the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), requesting that the agency bar the import and sale in the United States of certain Via Technologies Inc. chip sets and products that featured the chip sets in question.
The USITC case was settled in July last year, said Chen.
Intel could not immediately be reached for comment.
Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at http://www.intel.com/. First International Computer, in Taipei, is at http://www.fic.com.tw/.