Hynix Refutes Rambus' Victory in Patent Dispute Case in US By Kim Sung-jin Staff Reporter
Hynix Semiconductor on Friday refuted Rambus Inc.'s press release made on Thursday regarding a summary judgment issued by a federal judge in California on a number of ongoing patent disputes between the two companies.
Hynix said Rambus, a U.S. chip designer, is trying to make a big deal out of the summary judgment made by Judge Ronald Whyte of San Jose, California, as if the ruling were completely in favor of Rambus.
``Rambus prevailed on some of its summary judgment motions and Hynix prevailed on some of its motions for summary judgment. By granting Hynix's motions for summary judgment of non-infringement, Judge Whyte has dismissed those claims from the case,'' Ken Nissly, lead counsel representing Hynix's U.S. affiliate, said.
Judge Whyte sided with Hynix on nine claims, according to the Korean memory chip vendor.
``However, by granting Rambus' motions for summary judgment of infringement, Judge Whyte has focused the March trial on the validity and enforceability of Rambus' patents and its destruction of evidence. In June, Hynix's claims against Rambus' antitrust, unfair competition and fraud will be tried,'' Nissly said.
Earlier in January, the judge denied Hynix's motion to dismiss the patent-infringement suit.
The summary judgment motions granted by Judge Whyte are only one part of the process of litigating these patent cases.
Hynix originally filed 59 claims of which the judge allowed 50 to proceed. Rambus must now choose 10 claims to take to trial from the pool of 50, which includes the 29 claims in which the judge has already found patent infringement by the Korean chipmaker. The remaining claims will be tried at trials slated for March and June.
``It is still premature for Rambus to affirm their victory as the summary judgment does not assure that final rulings at formal trials, where juries deliver the final verdict, will be in favor of Rambus, thus the summary judgment does not carry a big significance,'' Hynix spokesman Park Hyun said.
Rambus has been embroiled in a series of lawsuits with some of the top memory chipmakers as it seeks to collect royalty payments. At the center of the dispute is a memory standard, set by a standard-setting body called JEDEC.
Rambus alleges memory chipmakers used its patents but didn't pay royalties on the technology, while the memory makers contend Rambus didn't make it known during the standard-setting meetings that it held patents on the technology being discussed.
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