Rambus defends patent position; calls Micron, Hyundai suits 'weak'
By Jack Robertson, Electronic Buyers' News
Sep 18, 2000 (8:26 AM)
URL: ebnews.com
Rambus Inc. last week denied charges leveled by Micron Technology Inc. that the design company has violated antitrust laws and should have patents related to key memory technology overturned by a U.S. court. Two weeks ago, Micron filed suit in Delaware federal court alleging that Rambus' synchronous-interface patents are “unenforceable” because the design firm failed to follow the rules of participation when it engaged in an open forum hosted by the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC).
According to JEDEC protocol, companies participating in open-industry-standards deliberations are required to disclose any patents pending that are related to the topic under discussion. Boise, Idaho-based Micron claimed Rambus violated that rule when it joined JEDEC standards meetings to discuss the development of SDRAM but failed to disclose it was filing for patents on the technology.
In a presentation to financial analysts, Neil Steinberg, vice president of intellectual property at Rambus, Mountain View, Calif., said that during the four years from 1992-96 that Rambus was part of the JEDEC discussions, the company voted on only one synchronous standard -- a negative vote related to the mode register for SDRAM. He said since Rambus had no pending patent application at that time on the mode register, it had nothing to disclose to JEDEC.
Steinberg said Rambus filed its SDRAM and logic-interface patent claims two years after leaving JEDEC in 1996. He also said Rambus wasn't a JEDEC member during the period the group was drafting its double-data-rate SDRAM standard, to which Rambus is also claiming rights.
Steinberg told analysts that Rambus had conducted an extensive investigation of prior synchronous-technology inventions before filing its patent applications. Rambus concluded there were no prior inventions, which cleared the way for it to file its applications.
Rambus last week called the Micron suit weak and said it contains misleading and inaccurate statements. The company similarly rebuffed a separate suit filed by Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd., which is seeking to invalidate the Rambus patents based on a claim of prior art and invention.
Rambus told analysts it was prepared to bear the legal expenses of the various suits in which it is engaged. The first court hearings could come in German, French, and British courts, sources said. |
