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AMD filed the suit against Intel back in June, following its successful pursuit of Intel in Japan. It asserts that that Intel violated competition rulings to squeeze AMD's market share.

On Thursday Intel filed its response to a District Court in Delaware and declared that its business practices were both fair and lawful.

'Innovation, investment, customer focus and great products have led to Intel's success over the years,' said Intel's general counsel, Bruce Sewell. 'These are the things that have been fundamental to our decision making as we've sought to move the industry and the pace of technology forward.
'Likewise, AMD has made its own business decisions and choices that have determined its position in the marketplace,' continued Sewell. 'Yet, with its lawsuit, AMD seeks to instead blame Intel for the many business failures AMD has experienced that are actually a direct result of AMD's own actions or inactions.'

But AMD wasn't going to let that lie, and has been quick to fire back a reply.

'Intel's response is not surprising considering

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what they are trying to hide, but the facts of illegal monopoly abuse are clear and undeniable,' said Thomas M. McCoy, AMD's legal affairs and chief administrative officer. 'Intel's anticompetitive business practices are under intense scrutiny by governments around the world. The Fair Trade Commission of Japan found Intel guilty of antitrust violations that harmed consumers based on direct evidence, and still Intel refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing.'

McCoy also highlighted the costs that he believes consumers face as a result of Intel's behaviour: 'Intel's illicit conduct forces customers and consumers to pay artificially higher prices and limits their ability to choose the best products available.'

'We look forward to presenting our evidence in front of the entire industry and the entire world,' he continued. 'Let's put the truth on the table and let the court decide.'

The AMD lawsuit, filed in Delaware USA, claims that Intel has used 'improper' subsidies to gain sales and has threatened retaliation against companies that either use or sell AMD products. The 48-page filing names 38 firms that AMD alleges have been victims of coercion by Intel, including large scale computer-makers, small system-builders, wholesale distributors and retailers, 'through seven types of illegality across three continents'.

Intel's methods are said to include outright cash payments, discriminatory pricing or marketing subsidies.

Companies named include Dell, Sony, IBM, HP, Gateway, Hitachi, NEC, Acer and Fujitsu. In one example AMD says that its share of Sony's chip business fell from 23 per cent in 2002 to nothing in 2004 and 2005.

This one is going to run and run...