Rambus, which designs high-speed memory chips, will square off this week against chipmakers Micron Technology and Hyundai in a German court case that will, along with the outcome of other pending cases, send shockwaves through the entire memory market.
In the German case, Rambus claims Micron and Hyundai are infringing on its patents by manufacturing SDRAM, the most common type of memory used in computers today, and DDR DRAM, its successor. Similar claims are pending against German chipmaker Infineon.
If upheld, the patents are worth billions of dollars, some analysts have said, as they would give Rambus the right to collect royalties on the lion's share of the US$30 billion worth of memory sold annually.
At least seven other companies, including market leader Samsung, already have settled with Rambus.
"I firmly believe those patents are valid," said Rich Belgard, an independent patent expert. "It is a very clean claim."
If the company loses, the dollars disappear. In a twist from the usual court settlement, the existing royalty agreements are contingent on court victories.
"If the patents are (rejected) here, which I don't think is an option here, clearly no company is obligated to pay any royalty," said Avo Kanadjian, senior vice president at Rambus.
