Appeals Court Sides with Rambus in Samsung Matter
Enviado: 29/4/2008 19:44Rambus Inc. won an appeals court ruling that threw out a finding it purposely destroyed documents related to the company's patents for high-speed memory chips.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said today U.S. District Judge Robert Payne lacked authority to make the finding after Rambus dropped some patent-infringement claims against Samsung Electronics Co. and agreed to pay Samsung's legal fees in a case in Richmond, Virginia.
``Because the district court's writing is an impermissible advisory opinion, this court vacates that advisory opinion as issued without jurisdiction,'' the Federal Circuit said in a decision posted today on its Web site.
The decision removes a potential hurdle for Rambus in its bid to collect royalties from Samsung, Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Nanya Technology Corp. They have argued that Rambus shouldn't be allowed to enforce its patents as punishment for destroying documents. Rambus didn't want Payne's finding to be adopted by other courts.
``This is no longer citable as a ruling against us on the issue,'' Rambus General Counsel Tom Lavelle said in a telephone interview. ``We're getting rid of more of their defenses along the way and keeping focus on the real issue -- infringement and how much they owe us.''
The Federal Circuit didn't address Rambus's actions, which the Los Altos, California-based company contends were appropriate. Rather, the court said Payne exceeded his authority when issuing an opinion on the document destruction, since the case was effectively over.
Rambus rose $1.34, or 6 percent, to $23.62 at 1:49 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have climbed 13 percent this year.
Second Victory
The decision is the second court victory for Rambus in as many weeks. A different appeals court in Washington on April 22 threw out a U.S. Federal Trade Commission finding that Rambus plotted to control patents for the high-speed memory chips to extract higher royalties in the $31.5 billion market.
Samsung spokeswoman Chris Goodhart didn't immediately return a message seeking comment today.
A federal jury in California last month rejected antitrust allegations in a trial brought by Hynix, Micron and Nanya.
In January, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, California, rejected Hynix claims related to the documents, Lavelle said. U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Wilmington, Delaware, is hearing similar allegations brought by Micron. A non-jury trial was held in November and companies are still submitting post-trial arguments.
The case is Samsung Electronics Co. v. Rambus Inc., 2006- 1579, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said today U.S. District Judge Robert Payne lacked authority to make the finding after Rambus dropped some patent-infringement claims against Samsung Electronics Co. and agreed to pay Samsung's legal fees in a case in Richmond, Virginia.
``Because the district court's writing is an impermissible advisory opinion, this court vacates that advisory opinion as issued without jurisdiction,'' the Federal Circuit said in a decision posted today on its Web site.
The decision removes a potential hurdle for Rambus in its bid to collect royalties from Samsung, Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Nanya Technology Corp. They have argued that Rambus shouldn't be allowed to enforce its patents as punishment for destroying documents. Rambus didn't want Payne's finding to be adopted by other courts.
``This is no longer citable as a ruling against us on the issue,'' Rambus General Counsel Tom Lavelle said in a telephone interview. ``We're getting rid of more of their defenses along the way and keeping focus on the real issue -- infringement and how much they owe us.''
The Federal Circuit didn't address Rambus's actions, which the Los Altos, California-based company contends were appropriate. Rather, the court said Payne exceeded his authority when issuing an opinion on the document destruction, since the case was effectively over.
Rambus rose $1.34, or 6 percent, to $23.62 at 1:49 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have climbed 13 percent this year.
Second Victory
The decision is the second court victory for Rambus in as many weeks. A different appeals court in Washington on April 22 threw out a U.S. Federal Trade Commission finding that Rambus plotted to control patents for the high-speed memory chips to extract higher royalties in the $31.5 billion market.
Samsung spokeswoman Chris Goodhart didn't immediately return a message seeking comment today.
A federal jury in California last month rejected antitrust allegations in a trial brought by Hynix, Micron and Nanya.
In January, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, California, rejected Hynix claims related to the documents, Lavelle said. U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson in Wilmington, Delaware, is hearing similar allegations brought by Micron. A non-jury trial was held in November and companies are still submitting post-trial arguments.
The case is Samsung Electronics Co. v. Rambus Inc., 2006- 1579, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).