Hi all; ElectronicNews reports on Rambus patent lawsuits. I quote only a portion, click on the link and get the full story:
Infineon Trumps Rambus’ Suit
A different suit may turn the DRAM tables - By Steven Fyffe
Infineon Technologies AG Inc. is trying to deflect Rambus Inc.'s legal strike back at it with a countermove that could potentially break Rambus' stranglehold on SDRAM and stop it selling its own direct Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) designs.
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Infineon has been first to show its cards in the courtroom, recently filing its counterclaim against Rambus in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. And it looks like the Munich, Germany-based company could be holding a trick hand.
"I would call it a cutting-edge allegation - not frivolous, but definitely creative," said Marc E. Brown, a partner and intellectual property (IP) expert at Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly LLP, a Los Angeles law firm.
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Because Rambus doesn't sell physical products, but instead sells only the rights to designs, it is difficult to sue them directly for patent infringement. But when Rambus licensed RDRAM to other companies, it purposely encouraged them to use Infineon's IP without permission and broke the law in the process, the Infineon filing alleges.
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"If they've got something that can stop other people from making RDRAM, it certainly puts them in an interesting negotiating position with Rambus. It might give them some leverage."
To help it contest Rambus' claims to SDRAM, Infineon has also brought to the table a 1991 Hewlett-Packard Co. patent titled Generation of Topology-Independent Reference Signals.
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In other developments, less than two weeks ago Rambus agreed to drop its complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against Hyundai. The move came on the day the ITC said it was ready to begin investigating the matter. Rambus said it was trying to get its court case against Hyundai shifted to the same place as the Infineon trial.
"I assume that was some kind of trade, because those things came out at the same time," Cullen said. "Hyundai probably said 'We won't contest moving the court case if you drop the ITC case,' but that's purely speculation. I can't see any reason for dropping the ITC case except for some concession for Rambus."
The complex, ongoing legal intrigues could easily turn memory makers against each other and distract them from the battle against Rambus, Cullen said. "It could leave the DRAM guys fighting among themselves, which I suspect is something Rambus would like."
electronicnews.com
-- Carl |
