Intel’s Battle with AMD Goes On and On and On…
Two of the most sophisticated technology companies in the world, Intel and AMD, are embroiled in one of the most complex, data-intensive legal battles this decade, according to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.
The lawsuit was originally filed by AMD in 2005 in U.S. District Court in Delaware, in which AMD accused Intel of “giving computer makers illegal discounts and retaliating against manufacturers who used AMD chips or stores that gave significant shelf space to computers with AMD chips,” according to the article. Intel has denied the allegations.
A special master overseeing the case pushed back the trial date to February 2010 from April 2009 to allow the two sides tackle the mountains of potential evidence and a long witness lists. According to the Reuters article, and one published in the Wall Street Journal, the two companies involved expect the suit to “generate the most documents of any civil case in U.S. History.” The Reuters article detailed that:
AMD had asked the court for 486 depositions in hopes of proving that Intel broke the law in competing with AMD. Intel sought to limit each company to 75 depositions.
Intel will also be required to produce Edward Ho, an Intel employee in China, for a deposition…. AMD hopes that Ho’s testimony will help them prove their case.
In addition, the law suit has brought on governmental scrutiny both in the U.S. and abroad:
Also on Thursday, the Korea Fair Trade Commission in Seoul said Intel abused its dominant position in the local market and ordered a fine of $25.6 million. Intel said it would almost certainly appeal.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has an informal probe underway into whether Intel abused its dominant position, while the New York state attorney general opened a formal probe in January.
Last July, the European Commission in Brussels charged Intel with selling chips below cost and offering customers huge rebates in an illegal attempt to drive AMD out of the market.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made it official. The FTC, at AMD’s request, opened an investigation into Intel’s business practices. Intel will want to tread lightly with the FTC, as the Ninth Circuit allowed the government to use the results of a civil SEC investigation in a later criminal case without notice (Stringer case). It also highlights the need to set up cases for the long term, knowing that the same evidence will be used in multiple cases, with multiple law firms and multiple production sets. It will be interesting to see if privilege waiver orders are sought, just in case Federal Rule of Evidence 502 passes (FRE 502). Former Judge Ron Hedges had some interesting thoughts on protective mechanisms using the orders authorized under FRE 502 on a recent Fios webcast.
While I’m not sure this will be the most data-intensive legal battle we’ll see, this case is an interesting one to watch, particularly when it comes to testing the safe harbor over the mistakes made during the legal hold process (see my earlier post).
Filed under Sound Evidence, Technology Counsel.