After nearly two decades of antitrust and patent disputes, rival chip-makers, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have finally worked out a far-reaching legal settlement; whereby Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion, and also alter the rules for the conduct of its business.

With the settlement in place, the payment that Intel will make to AMD will go towards resolving the antitrust lawsuit that AMD brought against Intel five years back.

However, the Intel-AMD deal neither implies that the US and Eroupean regulators will back off from the antitrust investigations against Intel, nor does it prevent Intel from offering some of the rebates and discounts that have been a central part of the investigations.

With reference to the agreement, the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Editor Julia Angwin opined that the agreement, which marks new signs of humility from the chip bigwig Intel, will not only help calm the escalating antitrust scrutiny that Intel faces worldwide, but also hold up its much smaller rival AMD.

Financially speaking, in the light of the March-scheduled commencement of a jury trial, Intel CEO Paul Otellini had earlier noted at a conference that antitrust suits can come with triple damages. Otellini further added that Intel decided to settle the matter upfront because “it was a small multiple of the damage that could be awarded in a jury trial.”