Intergraph has won the latest round in its ongoing patent battle with Intel.

Last month the Court of Appeals ruled that Intel did not have the right to use the Clipper Technology patented by Intergraph. Intel promptly petitioned for a rehearing by the court.

The petition was denied yesterday.

"We are, of course, pleased by the prompt denial of the petition by the Court of Appeals," Intergraph CEO James Taylor said in a statement. "However, we are not surprised because the initial decision of the Court had been unanimous, and there was nothing new presented in Intel's petition for rehearing."

The ruling is part of a lawsuit that has been dragging on since 1997 accusing Intel of patent infringement (this concerns yesterday's ruling), antitrust violations, and State tort and contract claims.

Intergraph wants royalties from Intel based on the number of Pentium I, II and III chips sold. It is currently conducting a study to see if the P4 is also liable.

The Appeals Court yesterday instructed that the infringement part of case be sent back to the US District Court in Birmingham on April 16. Unless Intel decides to take an appeal of the ruling to the Supreme Court,Intergraph will take the infringement and the State Tort sections of the case to court.

The antitrust part of the case is still pending - Intergraph's arguments for this were heard at the same Appeals Court in March. An Intergraph representative said today the company's lawyers expect to get a decision on the antitrust appeal before the end of this month. ®

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