NVIDIA on the other hand argued that it was well within its rights to build chipsets for new Intel processors. Eventually, NVIDIA was forced to stop making chipsets for the Nehalem and newer processors. NVIDIA filed suit against Intel and Intel later countersued. Bloomberg reports that the legal dispute between Intel and NVIDIA is now at the center of a review by FTC.

Bloomberg cites sources close to the investigation as saying that the legal spat is being reviewed as part of an anti-trust probe of Intel by the FTC. The FTC is reportedly trying to determine if it should file a suit against Intel. The review is ongoing despite the fact that Intel and AMD recently settled their long running legal disputes and AMD dropped the charges it had brought against Intel.

According to Thomas McCoy, AMD executive VP for legal affairs, the FTC inquiry goes beyond the issues raised in the AMD suit. McCoy said in an interview with Bloomberg, "The investigation broader er than the issues we complained about to the commission, and have since settled. We are still getting requests for information."

Intel is working hard to keep the FTC from filing suit. Intel spokesman chuck Mulloy said, "We continue to meet with the FTC and to explain our views on the settlement and our views on other related matters."