Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Rambus (RMBS) - Eagle or Penguin -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: NightOwl who wrote (51932)	8/30/2000 4:39:58 AM
From: Estephen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

Hyundai Files Lawsuit Against Rambus Over Patents (Update2) By Ian King Seoul, Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., the world's second-largest computer memory chipmaker, said it sued Rambus Inc. alleging some of the semiconductor-design company's patents are illegal. Hyundai said ``certain patents owned by Rambus Inc. are invalid, unenforceable, and not infringed by any Hyundai products,'' in the suit filed yesterday at the U.S District Court in San Jose, California. Hyundai's action comes a day after Micron Technology Inc., the No. 3 memory-chip maker, sued Rambus for violation of antitrust laws. The chipmakers aim to challenge Rambus's attempt to enforce patents providing wide-ranging royalties from the memory chip industry, estimated to be worth $30 billion in revenues this year. Hyundai said it filed the lawsuit ``in response to an assertion of infringement by Rambus and a demand that Hyundai accept and pay royalties under the Rambus patents.'' Rambus declined to say how much it expects to collect in royalties. ``Rambus's patents are a negative for the industry in that they will increase the overall amount of money paid out in patents,'' said B. J. Koo, a semiconductor analyst at Jardine Fleming in Seoul. Koo forecast a successful defense of the patents by Rambus will increase the amount paid to design patent holders from 1.5 percent of sales to over 2 percent. Resistance Some memory makers, particularly Hyundai and Micron, have chosen not to make or scale back production of Rambus chips because the manufacturing cost is higher than that for alternatives. Rambus-standard chips account for about 5 percent of the memory chip market today. Oki Electric Industry Co. last month agreed to pay Rambus royalties for patents Rambus claims cover two alternative memory- chip standards, including synchronous dynamic random-access memory, or SDRAM. Micron and Hyundai insist that SDRAM, which is currently the mainstream memory chip used in personal computers, is an open standard. Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. reached agreements with Rambus earlier this year similar to that with Oki. Hitachi acted after Rambus sued Toshiba, Japan's biggest electronics maker, in January, accusing it of patent infringement. Dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips act as the main memory for personal computers. Processor makers such as Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. compete in the high end of their business by offering chips that run at high speeds. Memory makers in response need to increase the speed at which their products can receive and transmit information. Rambus's designs are one attempt to solve that problem. More Negotiations In Japan, NEC Corp., the world's fourth largest memory chipmaker, has been ``in talks for the past few weeks'' on whether NEC is infringing Rambus patents, said NEC spokesman Aston Bridgman. ``The whole industry needs a definition'' of Rambus patents, he said. Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory-chip maker, has been the main advocate of Rambus technology. Samsung says the designer's technology will account for 40 percent of its production by the end of next year. ``The Hyundai law suit is irrelevant to Samsung because of our special relationship with Rambus, and we haven't received any requests for new royalty payments from them,'' said James Chung, a Samsung spokesman. ``We are not worried about the situation, and we're sure that any problems will be solved in a peaceful way.'' And some agree. ``The patent fee that will be paid by Hyundai and that paid by Samsung are going to be different as Samsung has been a major helper of Rambus,'' said Jardine Fleming's Koo, who added that he thinks companies who oppose Rambus's patent claims will probably end up paying higher royalties. Hyundai shares fell 2.9 percent to 22,150 won. Rambus stock fell 3.38 to $80.63 yesterday. It has risen more than fourfold this year.