Intel to pay Transmeta $250 million to settle patent dispute

Just a tad over a year ago, Transmeta announced that they were taking Intel to court over patent infringement due to technology in Intel processors. Even though they announced a few months later that they would be existing the processor market, the case went forward. Now, a year later, the companies have settled.

Intel has agreed to pay Transmeta $150 million, plus an additional $100 million over the course of the next five years. The total $250 million payment is intended to settle any claims between the companies of infringement and give Intel a perpetual license to use Transmeta technologies, including ones they develop in the future.

Given that it was Transmetas goal to move solely to an IP-based company, this is pretty much exactly what they wanted. It's a shame they had to go to court to get it done, though.