Thomas McCoy, general counsel for AMD, said that Intel's claim of trademark rights to MMX, a term that is the generic acronym for "multimedia extensions," is the issue in the litigation. "We believe the term MMX belongs to the public domain, and we expect to prevail when the matter goes to trial," said McCoy.

On April 2 AMD plans to announce its new, sixth-generation Microsoft® Windows® compatible microprocessor that will compete with Intel's Pentium Pro and forthcoming Pentium II microprocessors.

"This case is really about advertising and marketing, which no doubt explains the timing of Intel's lawsuit, right before AMD's scheduled product launch," said McCoy. "There is no dispute about product intellectual property or technology rights. AMD has all intellectual property rights necessary to produce and sell microprocessors fully compatible with the x86 instruction set, including the MMX instructions. As a result, the suit poses no risk to AMD that it will have to delay shipment of AMD-K6™ processors or subsequently recall these products," McCoy concluded.

About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal and networked computer and communications markets. AMD produces processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices, and products for communications and networking applications. Founded in 1969 and based in Sunnyvale, California, AMD had revenues of $2 billion in 1996. (NYSE: AMD).