Is it enough?
The DRAM industry adheres to a standard developed by JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Councils). Memory interface designer Rambus is a member of JEDEC and owns patents covering some of the technologies in that standard. It charges DRAM makers royalties for using that technology.
Two years ago, the European Commission issued a statement of objections against Rambus, alleging it: "engaged in intentional deceptive conduct in the context of the standard-setting process, for example by not disclosing the existence of the patents and patent applications which it later claimed were relevant to the adopted standard."
In a bid to resolve this issue, Rambus will offer licenses with maximum royalty rates for five-year worldwide licenses of 1.5% for DDR2, DDR3, GDDR3 and GDDR4 SDRAM memory types.
The European Commission has responded by inviting ‘interested parties' to comment on this proposed resolution.
"We did nothing wrong during our participation in the JEDEC standard-setting organization, as demonstrated in multiple U.S. court victories including before the D.C. Court of Appeals," said Thomas Lavelle, senior VP and general counsel at Rambus.
"With this proposed resolution, we create a new platform where all parties can move forward by licensing our patented innovations for future use in their products rather than engaging in costly litigation."
