The P4 chipset phoney war is over: let the fighting begin.
In the red corner is Intel, which yesterday filed suit against VIA in the Delaware courts. The chip giant alleges that its Taiwanese rival and customer has infringed five P4 patents with its P4X266 and P4M266 chipsets. It wants damages and is seeking an injunction, presumably to halt manufacture.
In the blue corner is VIA, which has bated Intel for months over the P4 chipsets. The VIA argument, aired for months in public, goes like this: We don"t need your permission to make a P4 chipset, we"ve got cross-licensing rights already through S3, remember, that company we bought last year. Go ahead sue, we"ll win