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.

Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dealer who wrote (699)	9/12/2000 6:19:59 PM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

RMBS--Rambus retaliates with Hyundai, Micron Technology lawsuits By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com September 12, 2000, 2:50 p.m. PT The international legal dispute between Rambus and what seems like the rest of the memory industry expanded this week when the memory designer filed lawsuits against Hyundai and Micron Technology in both Germany and France. Along with the four lawsuits, Rambus has also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission to bar the importation of certain Hyundai memory chips into the United States. Both Micron and Hyundai filed lawsuits against Rambus in U.S. courts late last month. The lawsuits, like other recent suits involving Mountain View, Calif.-based Rambus, revolve around patents filed by the company starting in April 1990. Those patents eventually formed the basis for RDRAM, the high-speed memory based on designs from Rambus. Micron, among other memory manufacturers, has taken out a license to manufacture RDRAM. Rambus, however, says that the patents also give it a legitimate claim to royalty payments for the production of SDRAM, the standard form of memory found in computers today, and of DDR DRAM, a high-speed form of memory that competes against memory based on designs from Rambus. In many instances, the memory manufacturers likely were unaware that any royalty claim existed until after the fact, Rambus executives have acknowledged. Because of the vast amount of memory produced in the past decade, the claim for royalties, if upheld by the courts, could exceed $1 billion, some analysts have estimated. So far, Toshiba, Hitachi and Oki Electric have agreed to out-of-court settlements with Rambus. All of the companies will make undisclosed royalty payments to Rambus. The company also has filed an action against Infineon, a memory spinoff of Siemens. Micron filed its suit last month in U.S. District Court in Delaware, accusing Rambus of enforcing patents that are invalid. Micron further asserted that it has not infringed any Rambus patents, declaring them unenforceable. Although analysts have offered varying opinions on the validity of Rambus' claim, Micron's behavior could become a bellwether, Peter Glaskowsky, an analyst with MicroDesign Resources, said last month. "Micron has always been one of the more litigious memory vendors," he said. "If Micron ends up capitulating eventually, there would be very few companies left that would attempt to fight Rambus on this subject." Rambus' new suits against Hyundai and Micron in Germany are slated to go to trial in February 2001, according to Rambus. No estimated trial date was given for the French lawsuits.