AMD expanded its year-long battle with Intel to the court rooms this summer when the company filed a legal complaint alleging that Intel illegally stifled competition between the two.

In a 48-page document, AMD claimed that Intel had "unlawfully maintained its monopoly in the x86 microprocessor market by engaging in worldwide coercion of customers from dealing with AMD".

Intel fired back relentlessly, claiming that AMD was merely whining about its past business mistakes.

"AMD has chosen yet again to complain to a court about Intel's success. Intel will vigorously contest AMD's latest complaints and is committed to winning this case in court," the company stated.

Gartner research vice president Martin Reynolds dismissed the lawsuit as a " media campaign" and predicted that it will take years to resolve.

But AMD won some moral support in July when the European Union raided Intel's offices in relation to an ongoing investigation into possible anti-trust issues. Intel has also come under anti-trust fire in Japan and South Korea.

The legal case was sparked by the limited success of AMD's Opteron and Athlon x64 processors. Although the chips allowed AMD to take a brief technological lead over Intel, this did not translate into any notable market share gains.

Dell, for instance, has remained loyal to Intel processors, as have computer makers including Sony, Gateway and Toshiba. In the server market IBM and Sun Microsystems have also shown support.