The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

EC accuses Rambus of 'patent ambush'

Chip maker slapped with Statement of Objections

Free whitepaper – Avoiding costs from oversizing data center and network room infrastructure

The European Commission has confirmed formal "patent ambush" charges against US memory chip designer Rambus.

In a Statement of Objections issued to Rambus on 30 July 2007 the EC alleged that the firm had claimed "unreasonable royalties" for the use of certain DRAM chip patents.

It said that "Rambus engaged in intentional deceptive conduct in the context of the standard-setting process, for example by not disclosing the existence of the patents which it later claimed were relevant to the adopted standard."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this year slapped a separate charge on Rambus of hoodwinking the JEDEC industry standards group into approving memory technologies on which it secretly held patents.

The FTC found that Rambus had through subterfuge, illegally gained a monopoly in four key memory technologies.

In March it stayed some of its remedy order against the company on the basis that it filed its appeal in a timely manner.

The "patent ambush" proceedings are the first of its kind under EU anti-trust law. ®

Free whitepaper – Standardization and Modularity in Network-Critical Physical Infrastructure

Don’t Miss

Mobile PhoneVint Cerf mods Android for interplanetary interwebs

OpenMobileSummit 'Hot dead birds' protocol comes to earth

AdaptecAdaptec CEO on the ropes after dreadful results

Company steels itself for doomed proxy fight

Samsung_transparent_OLED_SMBoffins working on biodegradable flexi LED implants

Silky hand-tattoo displays to replace watches, PDAs?

NvidiaNvidia taps Transmeta team for x86 chip, claims analyst

Shoring up, not quitting chipset biz