EC accuses Rambus of DRAM 'patent ambush'
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Six months afterÂ U.S. regulators capped royalties that vendors must pay to Rambus, the European Union (EU) is taking a close look at the company's monopoly on the DRAM (dynamic RAM) chip market.
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update Infineon Technologies will plead guilty to taking part in an international DRAM price-fixing conspiracy, which affected such companies as Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple, the US Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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Blog: Advocacy group intends to argue against judge's decision to force companies to turn over RAM information. Group fears digital phone conversations may not longer be private.
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(InfoWorld) - Samsung Electronics, the world's largest DRAM (dynamic RAM) maker, agreed to pay $90 million in a DRAM price fixing suit raised by a group of U.S. state governments, the first company named in the suit to reach such an accord. Samsung also agreed to assist the states in resolving price-fixing charges against other defendants named in the suit, the Office of the New York State Attorney General said in a statement on Tuesday. The agreement ends the case against Samsung. TheÂ lawsuit was filed last JulyÂ by New York and 40 other U.S. states in a joint antitrust effort against several DRAM (dynamic RAM) makers over alleged price-fixing, adding to industry woes amid an ongoing federal investigation that has already led to $731 million in fines. They alleged the companies violated antitrust laws and harmed consumers by conspiring to fix prices through artificial supply restraints, dividing markets among themselves and rigging bids on DRAM contracts during a four year period between 1998 and 2002. The price fixing scheme caused computer makers such as Apple and DellÂ to pay more for DRAM than they would have in a competitive market, the suit alleged, and the costs were then passed on to consumers. The Samsung settlement will be used to benefit victims of high DRAM prices, with $80 million going to consumers and other victims, and $10 million being paid out to state and local governments. New York's attorney general said the state's specific share of the settlement will be determined in the future. Samsung's Seoul office declined to comment on the settlement, saying its U.S. subsidiary was handling all issues regarding the case. Hynix Semiconductor, another company named in the suit, said it is too early to tell what impact the Samsung deal may have on the case. "We're still looking into the matter. We haven't decided anything yet," said Kim Ah-Young, a Hynix representative. The accord with Samsung is subject to approval by the federal court in San Francisco. The litigation will continue against other DRAM makers named in the suit, including U.S.-based Micron Technology, Infineon Technologies of Germany, South Korea's Hynix, Japan's Elpida Memory and NEC Electronics America, Taiwan's Mosel Vitelic and Nanya TechnologyÂ as well as their U.S. subsidiaries. The case by the states started after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation had already led to several guilty pleas, which resulted in millions of dollars in fines and jail time for a dozen individuals from four companies. In late 2005,Â Samsung was ordered to payÂ a $300 million criminal fine in the DOJ case, while South Korean rivalÂ Hynix Semiconductor agreed to payÂ $185 million. Infineon Technologies, of Germany, wasÂ first to pay a fineÂ of $160 million, in late 2004. Earlier last year, Japan'sÂ Elpida Memory agreed to plead guiltyÂ and pay a $84 million fine.
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The flash memory maker filed three patent infringement suits against companies that make, sell and import flash storage products.
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German chip maker is asking the court to dismiss the patent infringement suit.
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Second time in less than a month AMD has been accused of patent infringement for the second time in less than a month. Having found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from intellectual property holder Opti earlier this month, AMD was this week threatened by MicroUnity Systems Engineering.â¦
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The documents in question were brought to court during Intel&#39;s legal battle with Intergraph. AMD believes they show its arch-rival to be guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, which is why it wanted the EC to take a look.
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Speaking yesterday, AMD EVP Tom McCoy said that he believes the US Government has been lax in its antitrust enforcement in recent months. As an example, McCoy re-ignited an old quarrel with Intel - part of its federal antitrust complaint that hasn't been addressed recently, especially in the midst of allegations against Intel's conduct in Germany.
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November 10, 2004 ã¡ In the latest in a series of attempts by Japanese companies to defend their technological territory, electronics giant Toshiba sued Hynix Semiconductor yesterday for alleged violations of flash memory chip patents, which are key
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The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate claims by Trend Micro of competitors&#39; patent infringement involving antivirus products.Trend Micro filed a trade complaint Nov. 21 against fellow cybersecurity vendors Barracuda Networks of Campbell, California; Panda Software International, based in Spain; and Panda Distribution of Glendale, California.Trend Micro&#39;s complaint accuses the three companies of infringing its patent for virus detection and removal apparatus for computer networks. The technology &quot;represents a dramatic departure from the traditional antivirus methods of safeguarding individual computers,&quot; the company says in its complaint.The Trend Micro complaint accuses Barracuda of importing antivirus software that infringes its patent. The complaint says Barracuda uses code from the open-source antivirus product ClamAV, which is written in part in Europe and Australia. Barracuda also imports hardware components, the complaint says.Panda&#39;s products also contain code imported into the U.S., the Trend Micro complaint says.A Barracuda spokeswoman said the complaint is curious. &quot;It is interesting that the ITC has decided to take up an investigation, given Barracuda Networks manufactures all of its products in the United States and does not import anything of significance,&quot; said Kylie Heintz.A Panda representative didn&#39;t immediately respond to a request for comments.The ITC case will be referred to an administrative law judge, who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The judge will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. That initial determination is subject to commission review.The ITC will make a final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time, the commission said in a news release. Within 45 days, the ITC will set a target date for completing the investigation.
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SanDisk is suing 25 companies over patents used in removable flash storage products including MP3 players and USB flash drives.
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Antitrust officials are looking for evidence that the chipmaker broke the rules to guarantee its chips would be competitive on the European market. Intel says it is cooperating with the investigation.
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(InfoWorld) - A day after winning a patent infringement lawsuit against a Taiwanese memory chip maker Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. has filed to have the chips in question barred from Japan. TheÂ Tokyo District Court Thursday upheld Fujitsu claims that DRAM (dynamic RAM) memory chips made by Nanya Technology Corp. infringed upon patents held by Fujitsu. The court granted an injunction against future import and sales of the chips. Fujitsu said Friday it had filed an application with Japan's customs authority to suspend import of the DRAM chips under the country's customs law. The lawsuit concerned a patent related to a technology for improving the speed of DDR SDRAM (double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM) memory chips and was filed just over two years ago after talks between the two companies produced no agreement on patent licensing. "We've been in IP discussions [with Fujitsu] for a while. It's regretful that we have not reached an agreement yet," said Pai Pei-lin, vice president of sales at Nanya Technology Corp. The case with Fujitsu probably won't have much impact on Nanya in the near term, he said, because it's been going on for a while and the company has already made contingency plans. Nanya will most likely appeal the decision, but company lawyers will have to take a close look at the ruling before making such a decision, he said. Nanya is fighting a similar case with Fujitsu in the U.S., but the proceedings there look more favorable for Nanya than the Japan ruling, he added. Â
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The European Commission has received a  complaint that a disputed levy on electronic gadgets to  compensate for private copying of music distorts the EU's  internal market, a top official at the bloc's executive said.
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Toshiba has accused Hynix of infringing its DRAM and Flash patents, and has begun legal proceedings against its South Korean rival in the US and Japanese courts.
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All Markt up AMD vs Intel The EC's anti-trust probe of Intel is growing and taking on a German flavor.â¦