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Subject : Hynix Tells Rambus 'Fight's Not Over'   
Date 2009-02-27 Visit 4784

Hynix Semiconductor Wednesday accused Rambus of using the media to jockey for a better position in an ongoing legal battle.

"It is up to the court to decide," Kim Jung-soo, head of Hynix's investor relations team, told The Korea Times.

"But Rambus is using a certain media outlet in an attempt to put their wishful thinking on record."

Hynix's rebuttal came following reports that Rambus is expected to win some $300 million in unpaid royalties from Hynix after a recent U.S. court ruling over a patent suit.

Kim said that the report came on a "double hypothesis" that would only be possible after Hynix gives up an appeal against the ruling in a court battle that may take years without an out-of-court settlement.

"At present, we are not going to go for an arbitrated settlement and are determined to prove the merit of our case."

Kim's remarks also came after Rambus's bid to block DRAM sales in the United States was thwarted.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied the Nasdaq-listed company's request for an injunction barring the Korean company from selling its DRAM chips used in personal computers in the U.S.

This ruling followed a court's decision to grant Rambus's demand for supplemental damages, accepting the U.S. company's claim that its nine patents were infringed by Hynix S-DRAM products.

According to the order, Hynix is supposed to pay Rambus royalties of 1 percent for SDR S-DRAM products and 4.25 percent for DDR S-DRAM products made, used and sold in the U.S. after Dec. 31, 2005.

These supplemental damages are in addition to those previously awarded in the amount of $133 million for Hynix's infringement through December 31, 2005.

"The two sides are scheduled to meet in Seoul in March to negotiate the terms of a court-ordered license of Rambus's designs for DRAMs," Hynix spokeswoman Park Seong-ae said.

Hynix is fully set to appeal against the U.S. court ruling, insisting that the patents are invalid. Rambus, based in Los Altos, Calif., designs technologies that allow different chips inside a computer to exchange data faster.

The recent ruling has drawn attention and has been closely monitored as Rambus has continued separate court battles with leading global chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology of the United Sates for years.

"The ruling is likely to have a very limited impact on Hynix shares, as the company is holding over 100 billion won in reserves," Tong Yang Securities, a local brokerage, wrote in a report to clients.
 

 

 

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