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Litigious Rambus Wins Again

Posted by timothy on from the courts-reward-the-patient-ligitant dept.

After Rambus's settlement deal with Samsung earlier this week, an anonymous reader writes with this snippet: "Memory technology company Rambus rounded out the week with another legal dispute ending in its favor as it fights to defend its patent portfolio. On Friday [the] US International Trade Commission ruled that graphics chip maker Nvidia infringed upon Rambus patents, according to statements released by the two companies on Friday. Rambus has been filing lawsuits against various technology companies for the past decade, claiming they violate patents held by the memory chip designer."

7 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. A patent troll with a win streak? by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This one's a tough call... the have been one of the most litigious of the tech companies, but on the other hand they seem to keep winning in the courts. Doesn't the definition of a patent troll include suing people with nonsense lawsuits? They seem to have come up with some ideas so critical to memory that everyone else in the industry can't seem to make a product without tripping over the patent law. Do we praise the inventors, or hate them because we hate patents?

    1. Re:A patent troll with a win streak? by jmv · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The term patent troll has nothing to do with the fact that a company wins or loses. It's used to describe a company whose sole (or main) source of income is patent litigation.

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    2. Re:A patent troll with a win streak? by bky1701 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When an idea is so critical to something it cannot be worked around, it is far too obvious to be deserving of a patent. As a problem gets bigger, the amount of ways to solve it grows proportionally. If memory makers can't get around them, there is no doubt in my mind they're nothing but patent trolling scum who deserve to be beaten down in court.

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    3. Re:A patent troll with a win streak? by DrMrLordX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      RAMBUS, Inc. is the very definition of a patent troll. They're just smarter, and more brazen, than most. It will take years to undo the damage they did to JEDEC memory standards, and by then, who knows how else they will infect memory standards with their patents?

  2. Just to clarify.... by John+Hasler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...The US Trade Commission is not a court.

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  3. Geek Logic by westlake · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When an idea is so critical to something it cannot be worked around, it is far too obvious to be deserving of a patent.

    That's nonsense.

    If there is no work-around you have pretty much proven that the solution to the problem is not obvious and that the patent is legitimate.

    1. Re:Geek Logic by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What they patented were ways to make fast memory, cheaper.

      Nothing about Rambus' technology was every about "cheaper". Their memory technology was inherently more expensive than others because it required additional serialization logic chips.


      It's pretty easy to say "Why didn't I think of that?" after the fact. It is the one who gets there first that gets the patent. That IS innovation.

      You mean the one who gets to the patent office first? "Why didn't I think of that?" is what Rambus said when they overheard the discussions at JEDEC, but then they realized it didn't matter that they didn't think of it first, since nobody else thought of patenting it first. Yay Rambus?

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