Patent Office Rejects Rambus' Patent Claims against Nvidia
Patent Office Rejects Rambus' Patent Claims against Nvidia
Posted 11/25/2009 at 10:15am
| by Paul Lilly
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If at first you don't succeed, keep suing anyway. That appears to be the philosophy behind Rambus, the sue-happy company that some have accused of being a patent troll, while others -- especially its outspoken investors -- have cast as a victim of patent infringement. Most recently, Rambus has been on a rampage against Nvidia, claiming the graphics chip maker infringes on existing patents held by Rambus.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) doesn't agree and has rejected all 17 claims for three Rambus patents asserted against Nvidia in the International Trade Commission (ITC).
"This continues our string of victories against Rambus patents is the USPTO," said Nvidia general counsel David Shannon. "We believe these patents are invalid and are confident that a similar decision will be made on the patents that continue to be examined."
Nvidia requested the review and will present the findings to an ITC judge in Washington, D.C. The ITC judge, who is not bound by the findings, will likely make a decision in January.
Meanwhile, Rambus continues to stick to its guns, which isn't surprising, considering the company has spent $300 million on legal disputes with chip makers since 2000.
"The patents remain valid and enforceable as originally issued until the reexamination proceedings are concluded, including all appeals," a spokeswoman for Rambus said.
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nduanetesh
November 25, 2009 at 3:48pm
"This continues our string of victories against Rambus patents is the USPTO,"
That sentence doesn't make any sense.
bikerbub
November 25, 2009 at 4:57pm
lmao, just skimmed that sentance. don't really care about the quotes anymore, just a bunch of PR b.s.
JohnP
November 25, 2009 at 3:06pm
Rambus definitely had some sharp people working for them and some terrific ideas. Just too far ahead of its time. I worked with some of their memory modules as far as testing was concerned and their stuff was just on the ragged edge of working 7-8 years ago. If they had the technology then that is available today, Rambus would OWN ALL memory chips. Now they can just sue.
kiaghi7
November 25, 2009 at 2:57pm
Thank God... It's getting so tiresome to see every possible new advance in technology "patent trolled" by some jerk who had no legitimate claim other than a patent that says "new and improved technology that does stuff better is all my idea!"...
Logic: 1
Rambus: 0
Jeeze, why doesn't Intel just sue them into oblivion for using THEIR propietary technology, and thus Rambus won't exist anymore since 100% of their worth is derivative of people who actually did do something original...
Lord willing, this latest kick in the giblets to Rambus will make their share value collapse, and hopefully result in counter suits from Nvidia, devaluing the useless company to the point that Nvidia can just buy them outright and the Rambus sue-a-thon will end forever.
FRAGaLOT
November 25, 2009 at 1:41pm
These guys are still around? How can they prove that thier slow ass 10 year old, 5+ generations old RAM technology is being used in ultra fast MODERN Video Graphics technology that uses DDR (what is it now DDR4, 5, or 6?) type RAM? If nVidia was really using old slow memory technology patints from Rambus, nvidia would have never produce high end video cards and would end up like Matrox is now.
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