Intel files antitrust case against SoftBank-backed firm over patent practices

Chipmaker Intel Corp has filed an antitrust lawsuit against a SoftBank Group Corp-owned investment company alleging the firm stockpiled patents to hold up technology companies with numerous lawsuits.

The complaint filed late Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose alleged that Fortress Investment Group, which SoftBank bought in 2017 for $3.3 billion, acquired control of more than 1,000 U.S. technology patents.

Intel said that Fortress and other companies it owns or controls filed lawsuits against the Santa Clara chipmaker claiming that nearly every Intel processor made since 2011 infringed patents the companies had obtained control of from NXP Semiconductors.