On 24 April 2006, a Jury in the Northern District of California
awarded Rambus US $306.9 million in damages for patent infringement of all 10
asserted claims of four of Rambus’s patents.

Click here for a copy of the Jury Verdict, here
for Rambus’s press release and here for Hynix’s website.

Background

Rambus has prevailed in the latest round of a complicated
series of patent infringement and antitrust litigation. For those who aren’t familiar with
the memory chip industry, Rambus has previously sued a number of very large
players in that space over allegations of patent infringement.. Click here
for details of their current litigation (including court rulings, opinions
and judgments).

Comment

Rambus’ business model
is focused on creating and out-licensing IP.From an IP Strategy perspective, high-profile litigation is a natural
product of this as it generates further out-licensing opportunities.Another well-known company which has
utilized this strategy is Australian-based Genetic
Technologies Ltd which recently settled its final patent dispute with Applera Corporation.