FTC Rules Rambus Monopolized DRAM Market
Staff Reporter -- EDN, August 2, 2006
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ruled that IP licensing company Rambus Inc. "unlawfully monopolized" the markets for four computer memory technologies used in DRAM chips.
In a unanimous vote, the FTC concluded that Rambus distorted a critical standard-setting process and engaged in "an anticompetitive 'hold up' of the computer memory industry" through a "course of deceptive conduct." According to the FTC’s statement today, Rambus violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act prohibiting exclusionary conduct and acquired a monopoly of power.
The FTC's statement further said it has ordered additional briefings to determine the appropriate remedy for the "substantial competitive harm that Rambus' course of deceptive conduct has inflicted."
Read what John Dodge, Editor in Chief of Electronic News sister publication Electronic Business, has to say about today's Rambus news in his most recent blog entry: FTC Broadsides Rambus.
The FTC's ruling was not ignored on Wall Street. Rambus' stock fell nearly 25 percent today, to $12.82, after the commission's announcement.
Rambus could not immediately be reached for comment.
The company is no stranger to the courtroom. In 2002, the FTC filed antitrust charges against Rambus, accusing it of concealing its patents and patent applications until after standards were adopted and the market was set. The charges were dismissed by a judge in February 2004, a decision the FTC consequently appealed.
Micron, with which Rambus has seemingly tangled endlessly in court , applauded the FTC's move.
"Micron believes that Rambus has engaged in a pattern of deception, destruction of evidence, false testimony and other improper activities designed to mislead courts and Micron to extract unjust patent licensing fees or damages," Rod Lewis, Micron's VP of legal affairs and general counsel, said today in a statement. "We will continue to vigorously advance those arguments, and the thoughtful ruling today by the FTC supports Micron's views."
Rambus has gone head-to-head with a number of other companies in court, including Samsung and Hyundai.
Indeed, the legal pressures at the company seem to have had an affect on its general counsel, John Danforth, who last month announced plans to take a lesser position at Rambus. That news came after Rambus agreed to accept a lowered damage award stemming from its lawsuit with Hynix.
