US government undermines Rambus patent claims

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has declared that Rambus’ last three patent claims are totally invalid and that it must drop its legal proceedings. The three patents are related to memory chip design, and are among the most valuable patents held by Rambus. The first two patent cases were reportedly aside back in September 2011 and the third one was invalidated just four days ago on January the 26th.

The Barth patents have been used by Rambus to sue a long list of companies in the PC industry, including NVIDIA and AMD. It has been used to extract millions of dollars in licensing fees from the likes of the already cash-strapped AMD, through settlements. NVIDIA’s patience seems to have paid off. Rambus can appeal the latest decision from the PTO. “We’re evaluating our options,” said company spokeswoman Linda Ashmore.

It remains to be seen whether Rambus will continue to pursue the case but it does seem highly likely given how much it is worth to them. This story just goes to show patent trolling is wrong, karma will come in the end, Apple would be wise to heed the warning.

Source: Reuters