By | Tony Smith 19th January 2005 10:13

Rambus poo-poos Hynix Euro patent victory claim

We'll still see you in court in the US

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Rambus has accused Hynix of making "misleading statements" about the two companies' legal spat, calling the South Korean DRAM maker's victory claims "outrageous and irresponsible".

What's so annoyed Rambus is Hynix's comment this week that a recent European Patent Office (EPO) decision related to one of Rambus' European patents "effectively clears the company of infringement charges".

Hynix reported that the EPO has accepted a motion filed by Infineon and Micron that Rambus had unfairly widened the scope of its European patent number 1,004,956. Consequently, the Rambus' allegation in the US hold no water, Hynix said.

Not so, said Rambus, re-iterating its plan to see Hynix in court in March. The move to trial follows last week's ruling by San Jose District Court Judge Ronald Whyte that the patent infringement allegations made against Hynix by Rambus can be tested in court. Hynix had asked Judge Whyte to dismiss the suit.

"The EPO decision is a separate and limited matter, and we respectfully request that Hynix correct the statements attributed to it," Rambus counsel and senior VP John Danforth said in a statement.

Hynix sued Rambus in 2000, aiming to pre-empt legal action from Rambus by asking the court to rule that its products do not infringe Rambus patents. Rambus sued anyway, alleging that Hynix had indeed violated its patents. Rambus is also suing Infineon, Siemens, and Micron. ®