UK distributor KMS has now confirmed it has received a long brown envelope from Intel containing an accusation that is involved in patent infringement. Linda Drew, company secretary at KMS, said the firm had received a writ in the High Court from Intel, in which her company, First International Computer (FIC) and Via were also named as defendants. KMS said: The nature of Intel's claim is described as "patent infringements". The exact details of those alleged infringements cannot be discussed at present, but the defendants and their lawyers are looking closely at the patent involved and Intel's allegations. KMS intend to respond to Intel within the 14 day limit that is specified." The statement added: " KMS would like to take this opportunity to stress that the situation will not affect product deliveries in any way, and are sure that business will carry on normally. We will still continue to offer our full product range, for further details see out website at KMS Components". It is very unusual for distributors to be implicated in actions relating to alleged patent infringements. KMS is a distributor for Intel, AMD and Cyrix parts, as well as FIC motherboards. It is all a little reminiscent of the late James Goldsmith's legal vendetta against UK satirical magazine, Private Eye, in which practically everyone involved in the production of the magazine was the subject of M'Learned Friends. Attacking the channel seems a tad over the top to us, and other distributors and their dealers will wonder exactly what the point of it all is... ®