Lean SGI Sues ATI Over Graphics Patent

Fresh off a reorganization and Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Silicon Graphics has sued graphics chipmaker ATI for patent infringement, accusing the company of using SGI's technology in Radeon graphics processors.

SGI had just days before emerged from Chapter 11. Nearly every part of the company has changed, from a new business model, executive team, and smaller product line. Additionally, it has also acquired $115 million in financing to rebuild the company.

Company CEO Dennis McKenna said the new SGI is the opposite of the old one. Whereas before the company normally accounted for one-fifth of customers' IT spending, SGI has made effort to allow it to address up to 80 percent of a customer's IT needs.

Part of this effort apparently also covers aggressive policing of its intellectual property. In US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, SGI filed suit asking for an injunction and unspecified damages from ATI, which today completed its merger with chipmaker AMD.

According to the suit, the patents ATI is allegedly infringing on cover resources that help achieve enhanced graphics processing. SGI was awarded the patent in 2003.

"SGI has licensed this technology to ATI's major competitors and, as I have previously been stating publicly, SGI intends to aggressively protect and enforce its IP," McKenna said. "This is the first visible step in that process."

ATI was not commenting on the merits of the suit until it had reviewed the court filings, it said.