SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - Rambus Inc. won a $306.5 million verdict Monday against Korea's Hynix Semiconductor, a key legal victory that could lead other large makers of memory chips to settle their patent-infringement lawsuits with Rambus.
Rambus' volatile shares , which have risen and fallen along with the company's legal fortunes the last few years, soared after news of the verdict was released. The stock traded above $46 a share, a level near the five-year highs they touched a week ago.
Investors have been betting that a victory in the Hynix suit would be a legal watershed for Rambus. The company has also sued Samsung Electronics, the largest memory-chip maker, and Micron Technology, the largest U.S. maker of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips used to store data in personal computers.
'In our view, a win would put Rambus in the driver's seat and put pressure on the rest of the DRAM industry to take Rambus' (patent-infringement) claims more seriously,' wrote Daniel Amir, an analyst at WR Hambrecht who rates Rambus shares a buy, in a note last week.
Other memory chipmakers would be more likely to sign licensing agreements and settle their legal disputes with Rambus in the event of a victory against Hynix, said Amir, who called the trial 'a milestone' for the company. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.
© 2006 AFX News
