The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation filed a lawsuit against Intel Corp. Tuesday for patent infringement, alleging technology used in the company’s Core 2 Duo processor actually belongs to UW-Madison.
WARF is a non-profit foundation in charge of patenting and licensing UW-Madison research and was issued a patent in 1998 for the technology allegedly used by Intel.
According to the lawsuit, “WARF is the owner of all rights, title and interest” in the patent in dispute.
Janet Kelly, a spokesperson for WARF, said patents are sought to protect “the intellectual property of an invention,” and Intel infringed upon the rights granted to WARF when Intel used its patented technology.
“Intel has aggressively marketed the benefits of this invention as a feature of its Core 2 technology,” WARF said in a statement. Intel uses the technology, known as “Smart Memory Access,” to speed up computer processing.
Intel instructed consumers how to use the technology, a further violation of WARF’s patent, according to the complaint.
WARF met with Intel prior to filing the lawsuit to offer them legal licensing opportunities, but according to the complaint, the company “refused attempts to license the technology,” and used it in their Core 2 Duo processor anyway.
Chuck Mulloy, spokesperson for Intel, denied WARF’s claims.
“We were in discussions with WARF for more than a year,” Mulloy said, adding he was surprised at the timing of the lawsuit because Intel was in contact with WARF regarding the technology used in the Core 2 Duo Processor.
“At this stage we’re evaluating the options that are available to us.”
The lawsuit said WARF expects Intel to provide benefits such as “treble damages for willfull infringements, with interest.”
Kelly said this is not the first time WARF has fought against a major corporation for patent rights. WARF has settled infringements since 2003 with corporations such as IBM, Sony, Toshiba and Cypress Semiconductor.
“We are hoping to encourage dialogue with Intel and would hope that perhaps we would not need to move to final resolutions by legal action,” Kelly said, adding WARF is confident the case will be successful.
