The European Union on Wednesday accepted promises from microchip-maker Rambus to cap its royalty rates, writing them into law and effectively ending a major anti-trust case, DPA reported.
The EU's executive, the European Commission, had suspected that Rambus lied to US-based industry standards setter JEDEC about patents it held so that it could subsequently claim royalties on products covered by JEDEC standards.
"Abusive practices in standard setting can harm innovation and lead to higher prices for companies and consumers," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said as she announced the decision.
The case dates back to 2007, when the commission launched an investigation into Rambus' patent control of so-called Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips.
Commission experts suspected that Rambus had launched so-called "patent ambushes" while it was a member of JEDEC by providing information on its products without revealing that they were patented, and subsequently claiming royalties from all users of the JEDEC standard concerned.
Before the investigation ended, Rambus pledged to scrap its royalty claims on earlier models of DRAM and to slash by more than half its royalty claims on later models. After some consultation, the commission decided to accept that offer and close the case.
"This decision, which does not come to a finding on an infringement, legally binds Rambus to the commitments it offered and ends the commission's investigation," a commission statement said.
According to commission figures, worldwide DRAM sales exceeded 34 billion dollars in 2008.
Brussels accepts Rambus' patent climb-down
The European Union on Wednesday accepted promises from microchip-maker Rambus to cap its royalty rates, writing them into law and effectively ending a major anti-trust case.
