Judge delays next phase of Rambus-Hynix trial

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. federal judge has issued a ruling delaying the third phase of the ongoing patent dispute litigation between memory chip technology licensor Rambus Inc. and South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

In a nine-page ruling filed Tuesday (Aug. 22), U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte stayed the third phase of the trial until Feb. 2, 2007, or until the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issues a final order on the legality of Rambus behavior. The FTC issued an opinion last month that Rambus had unlawfully monopolized the markets for computer-memory technologies incorporated into industry standards for DRAM.

The staying of the third phase of the trial is contingent on Hynix posting a bind with the court to ensure payment of damages that were awarded to Rambus following the second phase of the trial, the ruling said.

Rambus (Los Altos, Calif.) eventually received a July judgment that Hynix is to pay the company $133.6 million in damages for patent infringement. The court had originally order Hynix to pay $307 million.