WASHINGTON -- The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. has upheld a lower court ruling that deals with the issue of whether Rambus Inc. may have committed fraud in failing to disclose its SDRAM patent applications to the JEDEC standards body in the 1992-96 time period.

In a decision released today (April 6), the appellate court denied a petition by Rambus for a Writ of Mandamus to overturn Federal Judge Robert Payne's decision in its patent infringement case against Infineon Technologies AG.

The action clears the way for Infineon attorneys to take depositions of Rambus officials and their attorneys over their legal discussions about disclosing the SDRAM patent applications to JEDEC while Rambus was a member of the panel deliberating the open industry SDRAM standard.

Judge Payne had waived the usual client-attorney privilege under an exemption for possible fraud. Rambus then filed for a Writ of Mandamus from the appeals court, claiming Judge Payne had exceeded his authority.