LOS ALTOS, Calif., Mar 10, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS) today announced that it has agreed in
principle to terms for a compulsory license with Hynix Semiconductor
(000660.KS) for SDR SDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory products. The parties
have agreed to royalty rates of 1% for SDR SDRAM and 4.25% for DDR SDRAM
memory devices for net sales after January 31, 2009 and before April 18,
2010. The latter rate applies to DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, GDDR2 and GDDR3
SDRAM devices, as well as DDR SGRAM devices. In addition, a proposed
final judgment of $349M in damages, plus pre-judgment interest of
approximately $48M has been submitted to the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California. The final amount of pre-judgment
interest depends on the date final judgment is entered. Damages and
royalty rates are limited to U.S. infringements.
"While the Court still needs to resolve some outstanding issues, we are
pleased to have reached agreement with Hynix on a number of terms," said
Thomas Lavelle, senior vice president and general counsel at Rambus.
"Our goal as always is to seek fair compensation for the use of our
patented inventions, and this agreement will be a significant milestone
in pursuit of that goal."
This case was originally filed by Hynix against Rambus in August 2000.
Judge Whyte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California split the case into three separate phases with Rambus
subsequently prevailing in all three phases. During the course of the
case, Judge Whyte found Rambus did not spoliate evidence as Hynix had
alleged, and a jury found Rambus patents valid and infringed by Hynix.
Judge Whyte and a separate jury also found Rambus acted properly while a
member of the standard-setting organization JEDEC during its
participation in the early 1990s.
About Rambus Inc.
Rambus is one of the world's premier technology licensing companies
specializing in the invention and design of high-speed memory
architectures. Since its founding in 1990, the Company's patented
innovations, breakthrough technologies and renowned integration
expertise have helped industry-leading chip and system companies bring
superior products to market. Rambus' technology and products solve
customers' most complex chip and system-level interface challenges
enabling unprecedented performance in computing, communications and
consumer electronics applications. Rambus licenses both its world-class
patent portfolio as well as its family of leadership and
industry-standard interface products. Headquartered in Los Altos,
California, Rambus has regional offices in North Carolina, India,
Germany, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding
our intention to continue our innovations, filing of patents and efforts
to be fairly compensated for our patented inventions.Such
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates
and projections about our industry, management's beliefs, and certain
assumptions made by our management. Actual results may differ materially.Our business generally is subject to a number of risks which are
described more fully in our SEC filings including our 10-K and 10-Qs.
RMBSLN
SOURCE: Rambus Inc.
Rambus Public Relations
Linda Ashmore, 650-947-5411
lashmore@rambus.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009