DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Rambus Inc. (RMBS) has filed yet another patent complaint to the
U.S. International Trade Commission against a slew of chip
makers.
Rambus, which makes memory chips, claimed products from Nvidia
Corp. (NVDA), Broadcom Corp. (BRCM), LSI Corp. (LSI), MediaTek Inc.
(2454.TW) and STMicroelectronics N.V. (STM, STM.MI), among others,
infringed several of its patents.
The latest complaint follows the ITC's order this summer that
Nvidia and other manufacturers couldn't sell or import products
using technology protected by the so-called "Barth" family of
patents. The ruling eventually led to a licensing agreement between
Rambus and Nvidia.
Wednesday, Rambus Chief Executive Harold Hughes said the company
has been attempting to reach licensing pacts with the latest round
of chip makers in the complaint. "One of the respondents frankly
told us that the only way they would get serious is if we sued
them," he said.
The Barth patents are included in the latest complaint, as are
others in a family of patents referred the "Dally1."
Rambus has long been embroiled in court battles over its memory
technologies for years.
Rambus shares closed Wednesday up 0.8% at $20.16 and weren't
active after-hours. Of the companies with stock listed in the U.S.
that were named in the complaint, only one was trading after the
announcement: LSI shares were up 1.9% at $5.92 after-hours.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com