Stefan Mileschin

MIPS has agreed to be bought by a British graphics chip design firm Imagination Technologies and will sell 498 of its 580 patents to Allied Security Trust, which bills itself as an "advisor to companies wishing to avoid the onus of patent suits".

Imagination is famous for its designs which are broadly used throughout the chip industry, including by Intel in its "Clover Trail" chip, ARM and in Apple gear.

But before the sale was concluded it seems that MIPS had sold its patents to a consortium formed by AST.

MIPS architecture will continue to be supported, and will be protected by MIPS patents.

Imagination CEO Hossein Yassaie said that MIPS architecture is widely respected, and is complementary to Imagination's existing CPU capabilities.

Imagination will continue to support and expand the MIPS architecture with the combined effort aiming to create a new industry-leading force in CPU development and licensing.

MIPS will retain the remaining 82 patent properties that are directly relevant and key to the MIPS architecture, and will also be granted a royalty-free, perpetual license under all of the patent properties sold to Bridge Crossing which is what Allied Security will be calling itself.

The sale of MIPS had been rumoured for a while.

http://news.techeye.net/chips/mips-s...n-technologies