EU accuses Rambus of 'patent ambush'

Posted by Sander_Marechal on Aug 24, 2007 1:26 PM EDT
Yahoo News; By Aofie White 		Mail this story
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European Union regulators have charged Rambus Inc. with antitrust abuse, alleging the memory chip designer demanded "unreasonable" royalties for its patents that were fraudulently set as industry standards.

[May not seem like a Linux article, but think of things like OOXML and the Mono Project. The European Union is acting against Rambus for submitting standards for certification without disclosing that the standards could not be met without patented technology. - dinotrac]

The FTC had earlier found that Rambus deceived a standards body, creating an illegal monopoly.



The FTC ordered that Rambus stop collecting royalties on U.S. patents and foreign ones relating to goods imported into or from the United States. The EU's executive arm said it had to act because the U.S. decision would not grant relief to companies in Europe.



There is also potential for some pretty large fines.



So...Maybe it's not such a good idea to seek standards that can't be met without your patent portfolio...I wonder if anybody's listening up in Redmond?

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