FTC Consent Agreement With Dell Computer Corporation: Dell Computer Settles FTC Charges; Won’t Enforce Patent Rights For Widely Used Computer Feature

FTC Consent Agreement With Dell Computer Corporation: Dell Computer Settles FTC Charges; Won’t Enforce Patent Rights For Widely Used Computer Feature

GTW Associates

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2000)

In a precedent-setting decision announced November 2, 1995 , Dell Computer Corporation agreed to drop patent claims that affect millions of personal computers using the industry standard "VL-bus". The decision follows Federal Trade Commission charges that Dell restricted competition in the personal computer industry and undermined the standard-setting process by threatening to exercise undisclosed patent rights against computer companies adopting the VL-bus standard. To settle the FTC charges, Dell has agreed not to enforce its patent rights against computer manufacturers using the VL-bus, a mechanism to transfer instructions between the computer's central processing unit and its peripherals, such as a hard disk drive or video display hardware. VL-bus is the technology of choice in computers that use "486" chips.