Rambus (RMBS)

[Threejack]

Rambus Sued for Infringement


Courtesy Bloomberg; credit [i[greekwarrior with the find; emhpasis mine. He's back...

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By Susan Decker and Ian King

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Rambus Inc., which is seeking
royalties from makers of high-speed computer memory chips, was
sued by a Canadian group that says the company didn't design
some of the elements it claims.

Alberta Telecommunications Research Centre, or TR Labs,
said it wants ownership of two Rambus patents. Members of TR
Labs, a nonprofit group made up of companies and Canadian
universities, include chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co.
``It would be unfair for Rambus, as opposed to TR Labs, to
retain the revenues derived from licensing' the patents,
Alberta-based TR Labs said in the lawsuit filed Nov. 15 in
Richmond, Virginia. The suit seeks royalties derived from the
patents, plus damages.

Rambus, based in Los Altos, California, is fighting
chipmakers Samsung, Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Micron
Technology Inc., saying patents it owns cover fundamental
aspects of all memory chips in the $27 billion industry.
Linda Ashmore, a spokeswoman for Rambus, didn't immediately
return a voicemail message. Rambus, which also designs
semiconductors that provide the main memory in personal
computers, had sales of $144.9 million last year, more than
doubling from 2000.

Rambus shares rose 15 cents to $14.28 in Nasdaq Stock
Market trading at 1:24 p.m. New York time. They have fallen
38 percent this year, valuing the company at $1.43 billion.
TR Labs' lawsuit is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge
Robert Payne, who threw out a Rambus suit against Infineon
Technologies AG because Rambus destroyed documents. The
companies settled the case before Payne issued a formal opinion.
Payne also dismissed a suit Samsung filed against Rambus
over the same four patents involved in the Infineon case after
Rambus agreed not to seek royalties. The judge will hear
arguments on whether Rambus owes Samsung legal fees.
The latest case is Alberta Telecommunications Research
Centre, doing business as TR Labs, v. Rambus Inc., 05cv789, U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Richmond).

--Editor: Farr.

Story illustration: To review the disputed Rambus patents
through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, search
for patent number 5,243,703 and 5,954,804 at
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm. Search for number
5,361,277 for the TR Labs patent. For a graphic comparing Rambus
stock price against the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the
Nasdaq Index, see: {RMBS US <Equity> COMP D SPX CCMP <GO>}. For
the Web site of TR Labs, see: http://www.trlabs.ca/.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Susan Decker in Washington at (1) [phone] or
[e-mail];
Ian King in San Francisco at (1) [phone] or
[e-mail].

http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=23314354

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His Nibs just loves the spotlight, so the MMs and their foils are determined to make him the Rambus patent expert. No Judge shopping here, huh? Hahaha.

This comes out of left field, though. You would think TR Labs could have filed this lawsuit years ago if it had merit. Samsung must be using this suit to get some leverage in negotiations with Rambus. That, and they want to give His Nibs one more chance to kill the snake.

Just my opinion.

Threejack