News Article
Rambus review refusal
High Court denies FTC antitrust review of Rambus
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request by federal regulators to review its antitrust claims against chip designer Rambus Inc. The justices refused to hear the Federal Trade Commission's plea to reinstate the commission's ruling that Rambus, based in Los Altos, Calif., violated antitrust law.
Separately Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the company supplemental damages on patent infringements by Hynix Semiconductor, driving Rambus' shares up 30 percent in after-hours electronic trading. Back in 2002, the FTC accused Rambus of not disclosing that it held or was seeking patents on technologies that were incorporated into industry engineering standards for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips.
Rambus had participated in the setting of those standards in the 1990's. DRAM chips are the most common type of memory chips used in personal computers. The FTC capped royalties the company could collect and required that it license the technology.
Last April, a federal appeals court ruled that the FTC had not provided enough evidence to prove that Rambus attempted to establish a monopoly on these memory chips. The Supreme Court refused to review the appellate case. The Bush administration had declined to back the FTC in its appeal to the high court.
"After enduring years of lost business, uncertainty, and spending millions of dollars defending ourselves against the FTC's ill-founded allegations, we're pleased the Supreme Court has put an end to these claims," said Tom Lavelle, Rambus's general counsel.
Separately Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the company supplemental damages on patent infringements by Hynix Semiconductor, driving Rambus' shares up 30 percent in after-hours electronic trading. Back in 2002, the FTC accused Rambus of not disclosing that it held or was seeking patents on technologies that were incorporated into industry engineering standards for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips.
Rambus had participated in the setting of those standards in the 1990's. DRAM chips are the most common type of memory chips used in personal computers. The FTC capped royalties the company could collect and required that it license the technology.
Last April, a federal appeals court ruled that the FTC had not provided enough evidence to prove that Rambus attempted to establish a monopoly on these memory chips. The Supreme Court refused to review the appellate case. The Bush administration had declined to back the FTC in its appeal to the high court.
"After enduring years of lost business, uncertainty, and spending millions of dollars defending ourselves against the FTC's ill-founded allegations, we're pleased the Supreme Court has put an end to these claims," said Tom Lavelle, Rambus's general counsel.
