UPDATE 3-US ITC puts off decision on Rambus for two months

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - A trade panel specializing in patent disputes on Wednesday put off for another two months a keenly awaited decision on a patent fight between Rambus Inc and several technology companies, sending shares in the chip designer plummeting nearly 10 percent.

Analysts said investors had been waiting for resolution in several long-running disputes involving the company. Some had expected the International Trade Commission to make a final decision this week following an initial ruling that found Nvidia Corp in violation of three Rambus patents.

The news, which came after the market closed, pushed Rambus' share price down to $22.59 from a regular-session close of $24.89 on Nasdaq.

The commission had said it would issue a final ruling on Wednesday on whether Nvidia, whose core business relies on the sale of specialized graphics cards, violated Rambus patents. That decision has now been pushed back to July 26.

Other companies named in the suit, which was filed in 2008, were Hewlett-Packard Co, ASUSTek Computer, Micro-star International Co Ltd and Pine Technology Holdings Ltd .

Rambus licenses those and other patents for use by other companies, such as Sony Corp for its PlayStation 3.

The commission said it wanted the sides to file briefs discussing what effect, if any, Samsung Electronic Co Ltd's settlement with Rambus in January would have on the suit.

Under the settlement, Samsung will make an initial payment of $200 million and make quarterly payments of $25 million for the next five years. Samsung will also pay $200 million for 9.57 million Rambus shares, giving the South Korean company a stake of 8 percent to 9 percent.

The settlement could be worth $900 million to Rambus over the next five years.

Other companies named in the ITC lawsuit were MSI Computer Corp, BFG Technologies, Biostar Microtech Corp, Diablotek Inc, EVGA Corp, G.B.T Inc, Giga-byte Technology Co, Palit Multimedia Inc, Palit Microsystem and Sparkle Computer Corp.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Andre Grenon, Leslie Gevirtz and Richard Chang) Keywords: RAMBUS PATENT/ (Diane.Bartz@ThomsonReuters.com; +1 202 898 8313) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.