JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal judge hobbles AMD antitrust suit against Intel

[JURIST] A federal judge Wednesday set a 2009 trial date for the lawsuit [JURIST report; court documents via AMD] by computer chip-maker Advanced Micro Designs (AMD) [corporate website] against arch-rival Intel [corporate website] after ruling [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that AMD cannot proceed in US courts with a major portion of its case alleging Intel committed anticompetitive practices outside the United States. US District Judge Joseph Farnan said AMD did not show that Intel's activities in Great Britain, Germany and Japan had "direct, substantial and foreseeable effects" on AMD's' business in the US.

While the Tuesday ruling damaged a key part of AMD's case, many of the allegations in its complaint [PDF] remain and the company will argue on April 27, 2009 that Intel issued secret rebates to customers buying microprocessors in order to gain business over AMD and that Intel coerced buyers into exclusive deals. AMD has not yet decided if it will appeal the ruling. Japan has also scrutinized Intel's practices [JURIST report] abroad, with Japan's Fair Trade Commission [official website, English version] ruling [JFTC press release, PDF] last year that Intel violated antitrust laws by offering rebates to companies that either limited or avoided AMD purchases. AP has more.

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