When Intel Corp. and X2Y Attenuators LLC squared off at the International Trade Commission last week, it was no ordinary patent fight over microprocessors.

Tiny X2Y, which is based in Pennsylvania, says Intel’s microprocessors infringe its patents. It wants the ITC to block their importation — and by extension, all the computers that use them, including every Apple Inc. personal computer and the overwhelming majority of those made by Hewlett-Packard Co.