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A British court has dismissed allegations by Via Technologies that Intel tried to use its market clout to push around the Taiwanese company, in violation of antitrust laws.
Justice Lawrence Collins of London's High Court said in his 64-page decision that some of the arguments made by Via did "not make out even the beginnings of a case on abuse of a dominant position."

On Thursday, Intel provided copies of the decision, which was handed down last Friday. Collins' summary judgment means Via Technologies' antitrust arguments may go no further in his courtroom.

Lawyers for Via Technologies and, separately, a representative for the firm in London had no comment and referred inquiries to the headquarters in Taiwan. No one there was immediately available for comment because of time differences.

Via Technologies and Intel had sued each other. Two other companies were tangentially involved in the case, on the side of Via: Realtime Distribution Limited and Elitegroup Computer Systems.

Intel makes the microprocessors at the heart of PCs. Via makes chipsets--subsidiary hardware necessary for a microprocessor--that only work with Intel products if they contain Intel's proprietary protocols.

Intel chooses to license its protocols to some manufacturers that make the chipsets that work with its products. Intel had done business with Via for some time and then imposed conditions on licenses for its new P6 chip that Via asserted were anti-competitive.

Via argued that Intel "was in effect seeking to establish a monopoly in chipsets for use with its P6 microprocessors or to control the market in such chipsets," the judge noted in his decision.

Via said Intel was abusing its dominant position. Intel has about 80 percent of the market for PC microprocessors worldwide.

In his decision the judge said that according to his reading of cases decided by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, Via had no claim to the right to license the intellectual property of Intel.

The case is one of a number over the years in which other companies that trade intellectual property with Intel and make products that work with its equipment have argued they were pushed around by the big Silicon Valley company.

Some of the other cases have ended in a combination of settlements and court wins for Intel. Others are still in court.

An Intel representative said Intel's allegations in the Via case are still alive. A trial on chipsets will be held in December and one on microprocessors next year, the representative said.

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