I hope they lose

...laughing Rambus execs were seen leaving ATI's offices, trailing loose $100 bills behind them.

I think it's time to ban any electronc manufacturer from importing any device containing semiconductors, silicon, lithium, germanium, or other semi-conductor raw materials to the USA until the US Patent system gets a serious overhaul.

And, at the same time, forbid USofA from exporting any laws or lawyers. Any US lawyer trying to flee the country should be shot on sight.

//Svein

so is this legit, or is this yet another case where rambus entered a standards body where all players agree to disclose relevant patents and agree to rand (reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms, but rambus just decides to ignore this agreement. (They already tried this with DDR and lost.)

Why should they lose? I know they may be trolling now but if they truely tried to sell the licenses several times and nVidia didnt pay then surely nVidia is in the wrong here?

And yes I do love nVidia cards too but hey law is law.

Why wait for the lawyers to try and flee the country?

Now they'll be after me for saying that.

If there was a god, there would be no Rambus.

When nVidia believes their controllers do not infringe patents, why on earth would they want to buy a license from a known IP troll like Rambus?

I'd also tell them to take a bloody hike and see them in court

Maybe because rambus' patents are overbroad, littered with prior art, fail to be novel to someone experenced in the art, or just plain don't apply. If nVidia beleaves just ONE of these, then they should refuse to pay. The dirty bit about US law, is that nVidia can't bring a suit over the matter though, they lack what in US law is called "standing." They have to refuse to pay it and wait for Rambus to sue them.

It's just like if MS sent me a letter telling me I needed to pay them for licensing, I would do EXACTLY what nVidia did... giggle a bit while i drop it in the waste-basket. I'm not useing their product, so bugger off.

Mine's the one with the square made of the letter 's' on it...

a little correction to your post

Any lawyer should be shot on sight.

And here is why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-v5PzE2fIg

Leechlike companies such as RAMBUS, who do not actually do any work, are able to survive purely on the real work of legitimate companies. It is a shame there isn't a rule that states that a company must either be producing items or developing items from their patents or they lose them after 5 years.

Rambus has been suing others many times and for many years now. They are part of the "Generation X" and see themselves as a think-tank. Back when other companies made it a trend to sue others for millions and billions did they use this idea as their main business strategy. As such do they not only produce new patents for this purpose but also hire people who own patents and turn the patents into money wherever possible. For some this is an ugly strategy but if one wants to do something about it then one better fights the patents instead and not those who make a full use of them. In some ways is Rambus helping in the fight against patents. Let them do their worst, and only then will we be able to see how bad things can turn. And if this is already their worst then how bad is it?

Let the big companies fight it out and let them see how far they can get with a law suit. At best is Rambus serving as the bad example and a constant reminder, and their work might have reduced the total amount of law suits among the other companies. Who knows?

"And, at the same time, forbid USofA from exporting any laws or lawyers. Any US lawyer trying to flee the country should be shot on sight."

Why wait?

There's absolutely no evidence that Nvidia's designs are based off RAMBUS's patent crap, they're basically trying it on with everyone who makes memory controllers. Again.

If I were the ITSC, I'd tell Rambus that they've already made their allegations in court, and until the court case is decided the issue is up in the air, so the should bloody well bugger off before I filed charges against them for filing frivolous allegations.