PCI Express Target Of Patent Law Suit

PCI Express Target Of Patent Law Suit

Monday, November 12, 2007 - by Chad Weirick
There haven't been too many law suits that have this kind of far-reaching industry-wide consequences: PCI-Express itself has come under attack by Microlinc LCC according to their latest filing in Texas.

Perhaps the strangest part of all is that this suit will put even rivals AMD and Intel on the same side, not something that is accomplished that often:

“As a result, Intel is named alongside nine other companies that the plaintiff believes are contributing to the perceived infringement. Intel's rival AMD is included for using PCI Express for its mainboards, as is NVIDIA. Large computer makers Apple, Acer, Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Sony, and Toshiba are all accused of aiding Intel by building desktops and notebooks that use the offending technology.”

The sheer number of companies or even component manufacturers that use or have used PCI-Express in their product(s) is staggering.  We're waiting to see how many companies are eventually impacted by this, but we're pretty sure that it will be a mind-boggling high number.

We're unclear at this time just what kind of compensation is being requested, but we'll make sure to keep you updated as news comes in.
Via: Apple Insider | News Archive | Tags: PC, Patent, Pre, law, suit, PCI Express, XP, pci, Target, ui, express, IT
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By Lev_Astov on Nov 12, 2007

This could actually be quite bad. The patent in question is #6009488, dated 12/28/1999

An concerning excerpt from the abstract reads:
"A novel packet-based data channel extends between the microprocessor and the interfaces of the devices to provide communication between the microprocessor and the devices. By varying the size of the packets in accordance with actual data transmission requirements improved computer performance is achieved."

I didn't take the time to fully study up on current PCI-E, but this sounds strikingly close.

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By mazuki on Nov 12, 2007

all these companies combined is in the high billions, good luck fighting against them is all i have to say

don't get me wrong, it might be good if some of these companies took a big hit, we might see better products at lower prices then

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