Big fish and chip maker settle

National Semiconductor and Intel have settled an outstanding patent lawsuit between Natsemi subsidiary Cyrix and its rival.

Cyrix, which was acquired by Natsemi last summer, sued Intel in May 1997 claiming infringement of its intellectual property. Its parent is now dropping that suit.

The companies refused to reveal details of the accord, but said the cross-licensing agreement between National Semiconductor and Intel has now been extended 'into the next century'. It would otherwise have ended in 2000.

A representative of National Semiconductor said: 'We think that this is good for both companies, because it removes the distraction of litigation.'

The representative also said he was not aware of any other concessions, financial or otherwise, that Natsemi may have obtained in return for dropping the Cyrix suit.

Cyrix did not previously have a cross-licensing agreement with Intel, forcing it to turn to partners who did have such a deal - notably IBM Microelectronics - to manufacture its chips.

But now Cyrix is covered by Natsemi's cross-licence, shielding the company from possible lawsuits from Intel, and assuring that the company can continue to compete in the x86-compatible market.

The stock of National Semiconductors dropped last week after slow sales to South Korea looked set to affect its third-quarter earnings.

National Semiconductor said earnings for the third quarter will be less than Wall Street expectations of 39 cents a share.