Silicon Graphics Alleges ATI Patent Infringement

Officials from Silicon Graphics (SGI) have announced that the company has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against PC video game graphics card manufacturer ATI Technologies. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the western district of Wisconsin, asserts that products in ATI’s Radeon graphics processor line infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,650,327. As a result SGI, which only recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is seeking unspecified damages and a court ordered injunction against any future infringement by ATI. The company has also requested a trial by jury, despite the likely highly technical nature of the lawsuit. "The company's technology covered by the '327 patent is an important resource in achieving enhanced graphics processing demanded by today's computer systems," said CEO Dennis McKenna in a statement. "SGI has licensed this technology to ATI's major competitors and, as I have previously been stating publicly, SGI intends to aggressively protect and enforce its IP. This is the first visible step in that process." ATI has yet to comment in detail on the lawsuit. The acquisition of ATI by chip manufacturer AMD was expected to be completed this week, but there is no suggestion that this will be impeded by news of the lawsuit.