Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS), one of the world’s premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued an order dismissing the remainder of its case against Rambus. This follows a recent denial of the Commission’s request for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court to review the Rambus case and brings the seven-year matter to a close.
In its order, the FTC indicated it would not pursue further proceedings against Rambus in this matter, stating “the Commission finds that further litigation in this matter would not be in the public interest."
The FTC originally brought charges against Rambus in 2002 relating to Rambus’ 1992-1995 participation in an industry standard setting committee, the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (“JEDEC”). A three-month trial was held in the spring of 2003 before then Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Stephen McGuire, who issued his initial decision exonerating Rambus with over 1,600 findings of fact in its favor in early 2004. The FTC’s own Complaint Counsel appealed the ALJ’s decision to the full Commission, which reversed the ALJ and found Rambus liable for violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Following Rambus’ appeal of that decision, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (CADC) vacated the FTC orders and the Supreme Court denied the Commission’s request for review.
Link to FTC announcement.
