AFTER BOWING out with its tail between its legs once already in the last couple of months, Intel has another Far Eastern lawsuit on its hands, alleging that its practices are monopolistic.
While Intel may have accepted the ruling of the Japanese Fair Trade Commission that its practices in tying vendors to its chips were monopolistic, it will no doubt fight this latest lawsuit. The suit is being brought by Shenzhen Donjin Communications Technology Co Ltd, based in China. Regular readers will know that Shenzen Donjin is something of a giant firm in the East.

An Intel representative told the INQ: "Four months ago, Intel filed suit against Donjin alleging its products infringed on our software. As you know, we invest billions of dollars to create IP and have an obligation to shareholders to protect it. The court in Shenzhen heard arguments March 23 and is appointing a third party to investigate the technical claims. We are confident the court will respect our IP rights. There have been reports of a counterclaim by Donjin but we've haven't seen the formal complaint at this point."

The company alleges that Intel has violated Chinese laws, as well as the TRIPS agreement of the WTO. TRIPS, Trade-Related aspecs of Intellectual Property Rights, is one of the cornerstones of international trade.

At the centre of the row is Intel's Inter-Dialogic Systems Release software. The software restricts its users to the company's own hardware - in other words, Chipzilla's customers can't use chips by anyone other than the 'Zilla.

And, of course, reverse engineering the software - which the company has done - is illegal, according to Intel.

So the battle lines are drawn, and the case has been accepted by the Chinese court. We shall follow this one closely. It seems, in emerging markets where the rulebooks are being rewritten on a daily basis, that when it comes to Intel’s Western Hemisphere tactics, the East is adamant that Up With This It Will Not Put. µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22354

It is certainly a "changing World".