To hammer home how long such cases take, AMD sued Intel for broad antitrust violations in 2005. The case is expected to go to federal court next year. Besides the propensity of patent cases to drag on for years, many end up being settled out of court or are used as negotiating leverage in other cases, Walters said. "This is done all of the time, especially with big companies that have multiple legal positions that are somewhat conflicting," he said.

Intel would not comment for the story.