Rambus, STMicroelectronics settle lawsuits, sign patent agreement

Once frequently in court, Rambus is now settling many disputes

Much of Rambus' past is associated with lawsuits, but the company is moving forward with dispute settlements.

After years of litigation, Rambus and STMicroelectronics said Monday they had signed an agreement that settled all their legal disputes. The agreement came just a few days after Rambus settled a 13-year-old legal dispute with SK Hynix.

Monday's comprehensive agreement will settle outstanding claims and expand existing licenses, STMicroelectronics and Rambus said in separate statements.

As part of the agreement, Rambus will get access to STMicroelectronics' FD-SOI (Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator), which will help Rambus develop technology for smaller and more power-efficient chipsets and memory. ST will get access to security technology from Rambus subsidiary Cryptography Research for use in microcontrollers. The settlement also gives ST access to Rambus' memory technologies.

The companies did not provide further details about the agreement. They did not respond to requests for comment on how long the deal will last or whether there were any payments made.

In the past, Rambus has filed a long series of lawsuits against other vendors, including for patent infringement on memory and chipset technologies. But the company has now settled legal disputes with many companies, including Samsung, Freescale Semiconductor, Broadcom, Mediatek and Nvidia.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags legalprocessorsmemoryintellectual propertyrambusComponentsST Microelectronics

More about BroadcomHynixIDGNvidiaRambusSamsungSKSTMicroelectronics

Show Comments
[]