SK Hynix and Rambus Settled Long-Lasting Pantet Dispute

Korean semiconductor manufacturer company SK Hynix and US semiconductor design company Rambus finally settled its 13-year-old patent dispute.

SK Hynix announced on 12th, it has reached an agreement with Rambus on a new license deal that would cost the company a total of US $240 million over the next five years for using Rambus’ patented semiconductor technology.


The patent infringement suits, patent invalidity injunctions, and anti-trust litigation between SK Hynix and Rambus evolved in Germany, France and the UK will be withdrawn due to the licensing agreement  

The legal dispute between SK Hynix and Rambus began in August 2000.  Rambus claimed that SK Hynix used their semiconductor technology patents without their permission. 

© Rambus | Rambus RDRam Technology Summary

 Rambus filed an antitrust lawsuit in 2004 against Hynix, Micron Technology INC. and Infineon Technologies and Siemens accusing that these chipmakers illegally colluded to keep Rambus’ RD Ram technology from making a footing in the chip making market and damaged Rambus 3.9 billion US dollars.

Juries made a decision that there were no illegal actions to prevent Rambus from expanding into the chip making market at the first trail. There will be a second trial during the second half of the year for those companies except SK Hynix. 

In March 2009, the federal judge in San Jose, California, ordered SK Hynix that its D Ram products were infringed the Rambus’ patented technology.  Rambus won a $349 million judgment on its patent infringement claims

© SK Hynix | SK Hynix DRam

In response to this judgment, SK Hynix requested Rambus submission of all the e-mails and reports during the patent filing period based on the discovery rule which has used during the Samsung and Apple’s patent dispute.

Rambus had no choice to submit all the files including e-mails and reports because Rambus could lose a suit if they refuse to submit. 

SK Hynix found omissions in one period while they were reviewing the files of Rambus.  SK Hynix claimed court that Rambus could have purposely shredded documents.



© WIPS | WIPS Global Search Result of Rambus' Patents

In May 2011, the US Court of Appeals remanded the case to judge whether Rambus shredded documents purposely or the omission of the documents caused negative influence upon SK Hynix.  In September 2011, the court ordered SK Hynix to pay reduced 150 million US dollars in damages.
Targeting the shredded documents was a perfect strategy for SK Hynix.

It was a great strategy for SK Hynix targeting the shredded documents. As a result, SK Hynix could take the advantageous position for the licensing agreement with Rambus. 

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