Rambus still around, sues NVIDIA for patent infringement
By Nilay Patel 
posted July 11th 2008 2:33AM
posted July 11th 2008 2:33AM
Hey, any of you remember Rambus? That company that wanted to force RDRAM onto the market and basically sued everyone until it flamed out into oblivion in the early 2000s? Yeah, it's still around, has a massively stupid slogan, and it's suing NVIDIA for -- what else? -- patent infringement, claiming that NVIDIA products with SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, and GDDR3 memory controllers violate some 17 different patents. Rambus says it's tried for six years to negotiate licensing terms with capital-N, but that it has "no other recourse than litigation" to get things sorted out. Valid or not, that's not good news for NVIDIA, whose stock price is struggling due to market pricing pressure and the news that perhaps all its 8400M and 8600M chips are faulty and will require repair or replacement at the cost of at least $250M. We'll see how this one goes -- now's a good a time as any to open that can of whoop-ass, guys.Read - Rambus sues NVIDIA
Read - Incredibly douchebaggy "Rambus Trademark Guidelines" page we're linking just because it's so pretentiously awful
Rambus invented the technologies in question. Now found valid in a court of law. Which means they are not patent trolls (by definition). Many years ago Rambus show the manufacturers their technology under non-disclosure agreements. Rambus was then invited to join JEDEC, and were never allowed to present RDRAM for consideration. All they could do was sit there and watch the "Cartel" pick and choose pieces of their technology for the new standards. They have to litigate to protect their inventions. Rambus brought a Porsche to the table and then the Manufacturers stripped it down and gave us all Volkswagens. People and reporters need to learn to do research before spouting out lies.
um..they joined JEDEC, took the things that were going to be proposed in the standard, patented them, then sued all the companies in JEDEC saying "patent infringement" so yes, they ARE patent trolls
Would someone (or group of people) just plunk down the $850 million to buy a 51% stake and shut this company down? ... okay perhaps you need more than 51%, but you get the point. These $250M suits add up over time.
I'd laugh my ass off if Nvidia ended up owning that 51% =P
"Rule #4 - Avoid Verbs:
Since a trademark is not a verb, they should not be used as such. For example, one should not "Rambus-ize" or engage in "RDRAMing"."
Sounds like they are RDRAMing stuff down our throats, don't you think?
Rambus seems to have a lot of commenters on their PR Payroll.
So they are PR trolls AND Patent trolls?
Rambus is garbage. Rambus (backed by Intel) tried to cram ultra-expensive RDRAM down the public's throats even though most of their products (PC600, PC700) were slower than those already offered. I've no respect for this company.
it's apparent that many hope that Rambus get rammed by a bus.