Intel, insisting its practices were "both fair and lawful", said AMD's complaint was "a jumble of fanciful claims - already publicly denied by some of the third parties cited - and confusing, contradictory arguments".

In its response filed with the US District Court in Delaware, Intel said that AMD was using the lawsuit to rectify its own past business mistakes.

"Although AMD has purportedly brought its complaint to promote competition, its true aim is the opposite," the response said.

AMD filed its lawsuit in June alleging a catalogue of abuses by Intel, including threats of retaliation against firms if they do not buy computer chips from Intel rather than AMD.

The Sunnyvale, California-based AMD, which launched a new chip for desktops and laptops in late 2003, has been trying to increase pressure on Intel in the market for microprocessors, the brains of the computer.

Intel chips power more than 80 percent of the world's personal computers, according to data from Info-Tech Research. AMD is a distant second, its market share falling to just under 16 percent from about 20 percent in 2001.

AMD's 48-page complaint listed examples of what it said was a campaign of "worldwide coercion" by Intel against 12 computer makers, nine distributors and 17 retailers.

Customers cited include International Business Machines, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Gateway.

Intel general counsel Bruce Sewell said that "AMD has made its own business decisions and choices that have determined its position in the marketplace". "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," he said.

Intel said no venue has yet been chosen to hear the AMD case "and various copycat class-action cases that have been filed".

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