The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which had been probing Rambus' participation in the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council's deliberations on a synchronous DRAM standard, alleged that Rambus (Los Altos, Calif.) misled Jedec members by failing to disclose patents relevant to the spec. Rambus is pursuing private patent-infringement litigation that could yield royalties totaling more than $1 billion, the FTC said.

The result of Rambus' alleged anticompetitive practices was higher SDRAM prices, fewer economic incentives for chip makers to both use SDRAM technology and to participate in standards activities as well as to reduce reliance on open industry standards, the agency charged.

"The conduct at issue here has done substantial harm to important technology markets, and threatens to undermine participation in industry standard-setting activities more generally," said Joseph Simons, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. "By issuing this complaint, the Commission is sending a signal not only to Rambus but also to other companies. The message is this: If you are going to take part in a standards process, be mindful to abide by the ground rules and to participate in good faith."

The five-member FTC voted unanimously to file the antitrust complaint against Rambus.

Rambus executives said the FTC allegations are a rehash of issues that are currently before a federal appeals court in a patent-infringement case Rambus has filed against Infineon Technologies AG. "This is the same set of facts, the same core issue as the appeals case" before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, said John Danforth, Rambus' general counsel.

"The FTC wants to send a message to the entire industry," Danforth said. "They are using the wrong messenger."

Danforth said the similarities between the FTC complaint and those of its industry rivals in SDRAM patent-infringement cases reveal how closely the agency is working with the rest of the industry to "get Rambus."

The appeals court here is expected to issue an opinion in the patent-infringement case between Rambus and Infineon later this year. Danforth claimed the FTC's complaint was timed to coincide with the appeals court opinion, and would give the agency an opportunity to review its case in light of the court's ruling.

Rambus had been talking with the FTC for over a year while the agency conducted a probe of the memory market. The three-count complaint is expected to be followed by a period of discovery that could lead to a full-blown FTC hearing on the case. The discovery period generally lasts from 6 to 12 months. Rambus is expected to push for a longer discovery period while the FTC would likely seek to speed up the proceeding.

Danforth declined to comment on whether Rambus would consider settling the case prior to an FTC hearing.

FTC's Simons said a possible remedy would be to prevent Rambus from enforcing any U.S. patents against SDRAM producers if the patents stem from patent applications filed prior to Rambus' withdrawal from Jedec in 1998.

Rambus' stock plummeted more than 36 percent on Wednesday after the FTC announced its complaint.

Separately on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed an antitrust investigation of the DRAM industry. Micron Technology Inc., Infineon Technologies and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. confirmed that they have received subpoenas from the department's Antitrust Division. The Justice Department declined to provide details, but industry sources said the probe may focus on price collusion in the DRAM market.