Rambus wins one, loses one in memory patent case
  03/17/2001 6:20:54 AM MST Albuquerque, Nm
  By Dustin D. Brand; Owner AMO

Rambus memory is looking less and less preferred.   MEMORY DESIGNER RAMBUS earned a reprieve Friday in its battle with the German chip maker Infineon Technologies: a three-week delay of its patent infringement suit to complete evidence-discovery and to depose Infineon's CEO.

  Judge Robert E. Payne of the U.S. Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ordered Infineon, based in Munich, Germany, to conduct a full document search and to provide full disclosure before the start of the trial against Infineon. Rambus claims documents provided after the close of discovery but before the trial allegedly contradict the testimony of Infineon executives. Infineon's CEO, Ulrich Schumacher, is also to be deposed before trial, Payne ordered.

  The delay comes one day after a federal judge overseeing Rambus' case against Infineon issued an opinion unfavorable to Rambus, which in turn hurt Rambus' stock. On Thursday, Payne determined in a written memorandum of opinion that a narrow definition should be applied to disputed terms in the Rambus, in Mountain View, Calif., patent, essentially excluding certain Infineon products from the case.

  Rambus' attorneys argued for a broader definition of the term "bus" as any wires connecting memory devices, while Payne ruled it meant "a multiplexed set of signal lines used to transmit address, data, and control information." Other elements tended to fall Infineon's way as well.

  Rambus launched its suit against Infineon last year to capture licensing fees for its patents on SDRAM (synchronous DRAM) and DDR RAM (double-data rate RAM). The suit is only the latest of several suits, settlements, and license agreements the chip designer has made with chip makers. Infineon countersued, accusing Rambus of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law.

  Rambus asked Payne to issue a summary judgment against Infineon's counterclaim of racketeering, but Payne refused, allowing jurors to hear the accusations in court.

  The trial has been closely watched by memory manufacturers and the PC industry in general, because if Rambus wins, all memory makers may have to pay Rambus royalties on SDRAM and DDR products.

  When word of Payne's ruling emerged Thursday, Rambus' (RMBS) stock plunged $11.26, or 31.9 percent, to $24.09. Amid a broader sell-off on the Nasdaq exchange, Rambus dropped another $6.56, or 27.2 percent, to $17.53 in late-day trading Friday.

  RDRAM or Rambus RAM has been consistently critisizied for it's cost compared to it's speed and performance. Other memory technologies like SDRAM and Double Data Rate RAM run slower and cost much less, but have been proven to be close to the speed in real performace of Rambus. Intel has supported Rambus in the past but has since reverted back on it's support as to not isolate the other memory technologies. Rambus is still however supported and recommended by Intel.