Patent Claims Against Intel Are Dismissed

Intergraph Corp.’s patent claims against Intel Corp., the No. 1 computer chip maker, were dismissed by a federal judge who concluded that Intel has the right to use certain Intergraph “Clipper” chip patents.

U.S. District Judge Edwin Nelson in San Francisco reversed a June decision he issued, finding he “initially gave too little weight” to Intel’s argument. Intel had claimed that it had the rights to certain Clipper chip patents through an agreement with National Semiconductor Corp., which at the time owned the company that developed the Clipper.

Intergraph, which bought the part of the company that owned the Clipper in 1987, had sued Intel for allegedly using technology covered by its patents in the Pentium family of chips. Intel has said it didn’t infringe the patents and that the patents aren’t valid. In Nasdaq trading, Intel shares rose 19 cents to close at $76.69; Intergraph shares fell 12 cents to $5.50.