Rambus Under Fire in Patent Battle With Nvidia
Rambus has been questioned over documents that it destroyed in an "ordinary business practice".
Rambus and Nvidia have been arguing over five Rambus patents that, according to the the U.S. International Trade Commission, Nvidia infringed on. Nvidia escaped an injunction by paying Rambus royalties, but it was later found that Nvidia only infringed on three patents, not five. Both companies filed appeals and are now back in court.
In a recent hearing, Rambus conceded that it destroyed documents relating to the patent case, but the process was simply business as usual. The court had a tough time believing the Rambus claim, however. Reuters quoted judge Kathleen O'Malley saying "You admit you have no idea what was destroyed! You have no record of what was destroyed!" In a following statement, O'Malley added: "Remember, you saved the ones that helped you and destroyed the ones that hurt you."
Nvidia is currently paying royalty rates of between 1 and 2 percent to Rambus, depending on the chip. At least for now, there seems to be a good chance that these rates will be lowered significantly. Rambus' credibility seems to be question already and there might be a chance for Nvidia to get back to Rambus by asking for damages.
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Wolfgang Gruener is an experienced professional in digital strategy and content, specializing in web strategy, content architecture, user experience, and applying AI in content operations within the insurtech industry. His previous roles include Director, Digital Strategy and Content Experience at American Eagle, Managing Editor at TG Daily, and contributing to publications like Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.
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ta152h This is like putting a goldfish in with a piranha. NVIDIA might win against lightweights like Intel, but whatever momentary successes they might have, they're going up against the God of Litigation.Reply
"Getting thrown under the Rambus" will no doubt become the new catch phrase for a company getting sued for something they thought was an open standard, with little chance of avoiding a miserable defeat. -
drwho1 Rambus is the Apple of memory chips.Reply
I remember over decade ago nobody cared about them (or there overpriced memory) so they started suing everyone.
Apparently that's all they still do. -
CPU666d1 Well it looks like nvidea has Judge O'Malley on their side as far as the missing documents are concerned & now rambus is getting scared obviously, because it will cost them more money if they should appeal and if they lose that appeal it will cost them even more.Reply