The FTC sued Intel late last year claiming that the company behaved anti-competitively to cut rivals off from the market in a way that deprived consumers of choice and innovation. The suit applied to central processing unit chips, graphics chips and others.
The case was brought under the FTC Act which is "broader than the antitrust laws and prohibits unfair methods of competition and deceptive acts and practices in commerce," according to an FTC statement.
Intel has agreed a settlement with the FTC which "prohibits Intel from using threats, bundled prices, or other offers to exclude or hamper competition or otherwise unreasonably inhibit the sale of competitive CPUs or GPUs," according to the FTC.
The case was brought in relation to the whole market, rather than as a result of Intel's behaviour towards a single competitor, which has been the case in the past.
The settlement makes demands on Intel's intellectual property policy. It requires Intel to "modify its intellectual property agreements with AMD, Nvidia, and Via so that those companies have more freedom to consider mergers or joint ventures with other companies, without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement", the FTC said.
