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Hynix asks judge to consider review of Rambus patents

A US judge was asked by Hynix Semiconductor Inc to consider a decision by federal regulators to review four Rambus Inc patents at issue in the companies’ patent-infringement lawsuit.

The review by the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) comes as Rambus, a Los Altos, California-based designer of high-speed memory chips, asked District Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, California, to bar Hynix from selling chips in the US after Rambus won an infringement verdict in March.

Rambus also seeks more than US$130 million in damages from Inchon, South Korea-based Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory-chip maker. The agency review was requested by Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co, the largest memory-chip manufacturer, which also is facing a Rambus suit in Whyte’s court.

“The recent PTO actions offer additional compelling support for Hynix’s argument that an injunction is not appropriate in this case, and that Rambus is not entitled to supplemental damages or ongoing royalties,” Hynix argued in a court filing on Wednesday.

The review will determine whether there is earlier know-how that shows the patents don’t contain a new invention. The agency issued an initial rejection of three of the patents on July 3. Rambus has two months to respond to the rejection.

If the patents are rejected in subsequent rounds of the review, Rambus can appeal to a board within the patent office and ultimately to the courts, if needed. The process could take several years.

Hynix said the initial rejection is enough to show that Whyte shouldn’t issue an injunction that would halt sales of its chips in the US.

“A judgment imposing monetary damages and a permanent injunction would not stand if the PTO’s rejection of Rambus’s patents on re-examination is ultimately upheld,” Hynix said in court papers.

Rambus is also pursuing some patent-infringement claims against Taiwan-based Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) and Micron Technology Inc of Boise, Idaho. A trial on those claims is scheduled for next year.
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