12 January 2009
Rambus accused of destroying evidence
A US judge has said that Rambus’ patent claims against Micron Technology are unenforceable because the company intentionally destroyed and altered evidence.
Ramubus earns revenue by licensing its computer memory technology to dram manufacturers and had prepared 12 of its patents in a suit against Micron. This is not the first time the company has been involved in legal cases against semiconductor companies, demanding royalties worth millions of dollars. However, many companies are not taking the allegations lying down – last year, companies such as Hynix and Samsung took Rambus to court with accusations of fraud. They lost.
However, Judge Sue Robinson of the US District Court of Wilmingon, Delaware said that in this instance Rambus’ destruction of documents that were potentially discoverable was both ‘obstructive’ and ‘misleading’, disallowing the use of 12 patents in its suit against Micron.
Rod Lewis, Micron’s vp of legal affairs, warned: “We believe that the decision is applicable to other pending cases and we are reviewing the ruling to determine its potential impact.”
Author
Chris Shaw
Supporting Information
Websites
http://www.micron.com
http://www.rambus.com
Companies
Micron Technology Ltd
Rambus Inc
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