Federal Trade Commission Readies Intel Suit

May 28, 1998 (7:54 AM EDT)

By Christine Casatelli,

The U.S. government is gearing up to launch another high-tech antitrust suit -- this time against Intel, according to The New York Times Thursday.

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly getting ready to charge the chip maker (company profile) with using its dominant position to withhold important technical information about its microprocessors from some computer manufacturers.

The agency is expected to request in the suit that Intel be required to share its technical data with computer makers, The New York Times reported.

Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has been involved in similar legal actions. Intergraph, a workstation maker based in Huntsville, Ala., filed a lawsuit in November against Intel charging anticompetitive behavior, patent infringement, and antitrust claims.

Maynard, Mass.-based Digital Equipment agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against Intel last week for infringement of intellectual property after it announced the sale of its Alpha chip manufacturing facilities to Intel. The sale, valued at $625 million, includes operations in Hudson, Mass.; Austin, Texas; and Israel.