Three patents pertaining to memory chip design that were used to successfully sue HP and NVIDIA — dubbed the Barth Patents — are among Rambus’ most valuable IP. Excuse me, they were among Rambus’ most valuable until the US patent office invalidated them.
According to court documents the last of the three patents was invalidated Tuesday — the other two were struck down in September. Rambus had employed the trio to sue a large number of companies, including STMicroelectronics, Broadcom, and MediaTek over the last few years.
Rambus’ aggressive litigation for infringement netted it hefty licensing fees from the court settlements. This decision, however, should open the door for the companies to reclaim at least a portion of their settlement sums. [Reuters]
Images: the AP.
Zeruel
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 9:45 AMThey used to be a fabless semiconductor firm, who had their shit inside some once relevant hardware…seems a shame they turned in a patent troll riding on past glories…did they fire their engineers or what?
Esophagus
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 3:52 PMYou’re next, Apple.
keemps
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 11:04 PMAnd you’re next, Samsung
mystic
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 9:50 AM^^^^^^^^apple fan boy
Kent
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 1:30 PM…? ^^^^^^ Android Fanboy.