Under the agreement, Infineon, Europe's third largest chip
manufacturer, has been granted a worldwide licence to Rambus'
patent portfolio. It will be treated as a "most-favoured" customer,
and has been given an option to obtain certain other licences in
the future.
In exchange, Infineon will pay a quarterly license fee of
$5.85 million for two years. After that time, and only if Rambus
enters into additional specified licensing agreements with certain
other memory chip manufacturers, Infineon will make additional
quarterly payments, which may accumulate to a maximum of a further
$100 million.
Infineon has also given Rambus a fully-paid perpetual licence
for memory interfaces.
Rambus, which designs, develops and licenses high-bandwidth
chip-connection technologies, sued Infineon in 2000. Rambus claimed
that Infineon used technologies covered by Rambus patents without a
licence.
Separate actions were also raised against Hyundai Electronics
(now Hynix) and Micron Technology.
In the years since the filing, the case has grown ever more
complex, with counterclaims, accusations of fraud and antitrust
investigations all playing their part.
Matters came to a head in December last year, when Infineon
filed a motion to dismiss the case, alleging litigation misconduct
on the part of Rambus, including the wilful destruction of
evidence.
Earlier this month,
US
District Court Judge
Robert E Payne upheld Infineon's "unclean hands" argument and
dismissed the patent action. One claim remained in the case, a
claim by Infineon against Rambus for the purported violation of the
California Business and Profession Code.
At the time, Rambus senior vice president and general counsel
John Danforth said that the company felt it would have a strong
case on appeal, but a settlement appears to have been the preferred
option.
The settlement also ends an antitrust case brought by Rambus
in May last year against four rivals – at least insofar as it
relates to Infineon and its former parent company, Siemens.
The case, which alleges that the companies engaged in a
concerted and unlawful effort to eliminate competition and stifle
innovation in the memory market, will continue against Hynix
Semiconductor and Micron Technology.
