Rambus Redux: The FTC Tries One Last Time (and so do I)

"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."

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• EE Times: High-tech looks to profit from patents(Jan 31, 2000)
• CNET News.com: Dell workstations to include Rambus memory(Jun 25, 1999)