"The Rambus dispute has three legs to it. The first is a snarl
of suits between Rambus, on the one hand, and four semiconductor
companies (Hynix, Infineon, Micron, Samsung) individually on the
other. Rambus sued each for patent infringement and for conspiracy,
and each countersued for deception in the JEDEC standards setting
process in which the standard in question was developed. The second
leg involves complaints brought against US regulators against the
same four semiconductor companies alleging them with price fixing
(each has settled with the regulators). And the third involves US
regulators (the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC) and European
Regulators (the European Commission), each of which opened a
separate investigation into the same course of conduct.
"One of those legs, or at least the US part of it involving the
FTC, is now coming to a climax, with the FTC petitioning the U.S.
Supreme Court to grant "certiorari," which is legalese for a review
by the Supreme Court of a ruling by a lower court. In this case,
that ruling was entered by the United States Circuit Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which earlier this
year overturned a unanimous decision by the Commissioners of the
FTC against Rambus. If the Supreme Court denies certiorari, then
this part of the long Rambus saga will be over, although the
possibility for further action by the EC will continue."
