Rambus Loses SDRAM Patent Court Case

A U.S. judge has thrown out the remaining three claims of copyright infringement in the case brought by memory designer Rambus against Germany's Infineon Technologies, Rambus says.

Rambus had taken Infineon to court claiming the company infringed on its design patents in manufacturing SDRAM and DDR SDRAM. Rambus had made deals with other chip makers, while Infineon, Micron Technology, and Hynix Semiconductor (formerly Hyundai Electronics) have held out on paying royalties to the company. Some analysts suggest the company's royalty requirements could drive up memory prices industry-wide.

"We are disappointed with the Court's decision and plan to appeal the ruling," says Geoff Tate, Rambus's chief executive officer, in a statement.

"If today's decision is allowed to stand, all companies that innovate risk having their intellectual property rights unjustly expropriated," Tate adds.

The Judge of the U.S. District Court threw out 54 of Rambus's claims in the case on Tuesday, leaving three remaining. He threw those out on Friday.

Rambus in a Corner

"This definitely is not good news for Rambus," says Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. "The issues really come down to the fact that Rambus has been migrating away from being an IT company to being an IT litigation company."

Rambus will continue to fight for what it considers its intellectual property, Tate says in his statement. He adds that Rambus would not be "cowed by the aggressive tactics of some industry giants who would take over [Rambus's] innovations without any compensation."

Rambus has no alternative at this point but to put on an optimistic face, McCarron says. "People will not license if there isn't a perceived threat, and in order to maintain that perceived threat they have to remain optimistic," he adds.

Other Patents, Trials Remain

There are still a dozen patents involved in other Rambus cases in the United States and Europe, according to Rambus. The company plans to appeal the Virginia ruling, while the company's suit against Infineon in Germany is scheduled to begin in two weeks.

Rambus also holds newly issued patents covering SDRAM and DDR SDRAM that have not been entered into any litigation yet, and are not affected by the court's decision, the company says.