Intel did not infringe Intergraph's patents, a federal judge has ruled -- after already ruling that it did violate the PC vendor's intellectual property rights. According to Maximum PC, Intergraph's case against Chipzilla was thrown out in by Judge Edwin Nelson, who earlier this year ruled in Intergraph's favour. That initial ruling stated that Intel did not have a licence to use Intergraph IP, just as the PC vendor had claimed. Integraph had bought the patents from National Semiconductor in 1987 after it acquired them itself through its takeover of Fairchild Semiconductor. Intel's defence centred on a cross-licensing deal it had struck with Fairchild back in 1976. Nelson now appears to have decided he was wrong before, and consequently reversed the his earlier ruling. Intergraph said it maintains its stance on Intel's rights to its IP, and that it will appeal Nelson's latest ruling. Maybe the judge will change his mind again: eeny, meeny, miny, mo... Meanwhile, Intergraph's anti-trust case against Chipzilla continues, and is expected to go to trial June next year. ®