Rambus Scores 2nd Memory License Deal

Staff Reporter -- Electronic News, 7/6/2006

One day after a competitor’s licensing announcement with Rambus Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has announced the signing of a similar agreement with the memory kingpin.

Matsushita, commonly known by the consumer electronics brand name Panasonic, will license Rambus patents for SDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory controllers, paying Rambus royalties based on the shipment of these memory controllers. Further financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Wednesday Toshiba, also a consumer electronics player, announced a license of Rambus patents for SDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory controllers.

"We have made great strides with our overall patent licensing program and plan to continue showcasing the value of our patent portfolio," said Sharon Holt, senior VP of sales, licensing and marketing at Rambus, in a statement. "Our focus of developing advanced interface designs and innovations help our long-time partners like Matsushita deliver high-quality products to the market as we continue to advance the state-of-the-art."

The five-year agreement has an effective date of Oct. 1, 2005. Matsushita also signed a technology license agreement with Rambus in 2004 for use of its DDR2 drop-in cell as well as its XDR memory interface solution. Toshiba also licenses both of these technologies.