News Article
Court due to decide on Inineon/Rambus patent battle
Lawyers from German semiconductor giant Infineon and US memory chip maker Rambus are in court this week in the latest stage of legal battle between the two companies.
Lawyers from German semiconductor giant Infineon and US memory chip maker Rambus are in court this week in the latest stage of legal battle between the two companies.
The dispute centres on a Rambus design that makes memory chips run faster. To use this design in their own chips, memory makers have to pay Rambus royalty payments of about 4%.
Rambus originally sued Infineon in 2000, claiming that the German company had based its memory chips partly on Rambus’s patents without paying royalties.
Infineon has in turn accused Rambus of destroying evidence related to the case in a bid to disprove Infineon’s defence. If successful with this so-called "unclean hands" defence, the case would be dismissed and Rambus would be unable to enforce its patent rights.
Rambus’s suit against Infineon is being decided upon by a court in Virginia, US. The judge - Robert Payne - will decide whether or not the case should go before a jury trial next week.
Rambus won a similar case last month, allowing it to pursue a lawsuit against South Korean firm Hynix.
The dispute centres on a Rambus design that makes memory chips run faster. To use this design in their own chips, memory makers have to pay Rambus royalty payments of about 4%.
Rambus originally sued Infineon in 2000, claiming that the German company had based its memory chips partly on Rambus’s patents without paying royalties.
Infineon has in turn accused Rambus of destroying evidence related to the case in a bid to disprove Infineon’s defence. If successful with this so-called "unclean hands" defence, the case would be dismissed and Rambus would be unable to enforce its patent rights.
Rambus’s suit against Infineon is being decided upon by a court in Virginia, US. The judge - Robert Payne - will decide whether or not the case should go before a jury trial next week.
Rambus won a similar case last month, allowing it to pursue a lawsuit against South Korean firm Hynix.
