Memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor Inc. may be forced to pay Rambus Inc. more than $51 million a year, rather than be barred from its $1.2 billion computer-chip market in the U.S. by a federal judge in California, reports Bloomberg News.
If Hynix gives in, larger competitor Samsung Electronics Co. and Micron Technology Inc. -- both in similar patent-infringement suits with Rambus -- probably won't be far behind, according to James Hopenfeld, a patent lawyer at Ropes and Gray in Washington. Rambus, based in Los Altos, California, is a designer and licensor of chips used in such products as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation video game.
``This is going to be a bellwether'' decision, Hopenfeld said. ``There's a strong likelihood the other cases will follow, but it's not guaranteed because there could be differences in the facts.''
Prospects of a settlement were elevated after Rambus asked U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte last month to block Ichon, South Korea-based
Hynix from selling dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips in the U.S. The judge is likely to grant an injunction, the most severe punishment in such a suit, given that a jury ruled in a previous trial that
Hynix illegally used Rambus's patent designs, according to patent attorney Robert Sterne.
Rambus has ``a better than 50% chance'' of getting a court order, said Sterne, a partner in Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox in Washington. ``I don't see any reason why a judge wouldn't grant an injunction.''
