Micro Law FTC piles onto Rambus’ standardization skullduggery

The Rambus standardization skullduggery saga continues. As related in the May/June, July/August, and September/October 2001 Micro Law columns, SDRAM technology licensor Rambus sued chipmaker Infineon for patent infringement because Infineon refused to take a license under Rambus’ patents. (SDRAMs are synchronous dynamic random-access memory chips. Instead of running asynchronously (like ordinary DRAMs), SDRAMs are refreshed by a synchronous system clock. By 1999, SDRAM had largely replaced asynchronous DRAM.) Infineon then countersued for common-law fraud based on Rambus’ alleged abuse of the standard-setting process. After a trial in which the judge assessed $7 million in damages against Rambus, the company appealed to the Federal Circuit appeals court. After its recent hearing of the opposing arguments, the Federal Circuit will probably take at least six months to hand down an opinion. In June 2002, the Federal Trade Commission weighed in by suing Rambus for engaging in unfair competition, in violation of section 5 of the FTC Act.