According to Nvidia on Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has initially rejected an additional eight Rambus claims that Nvidia challenged.
The additional eight claims are based on two patents that Rambus has asserted against Nvidia in litigation. This follows the USPTO's rejection last month of 41 other claims in seven patents that Rambus had asserted, Nvidia said.
Rambus filed patent claims against Nvidia in an International Trade Commission action in November. The ITC litigation involves memory controllers--which handle communications between memory chips and other silicon--related to graphics processors.
"We are pleased that the USPTO decided to review the patentability of these two additional Rambus' patents and continued to agree with Nvidia's challenge to these eight claims," said David Shannon, Nvidia executive vice president and general counsel, in a statement.
Rambus, which develops high-speed memory chip technology, also commented on the announcement.
"As part of the multi-pronged approach to delay paying Rambus for our patented inventions, our litigation opponents have filed requests with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to bring into question the validity of some of our patents. We have seen this tactic for years," according to a Rambus statement Tuesday. "This is a very long process, and the patents remain valid during the whole process," Rambus said.
Rambus is seeking to block importation and sale of Nvidia products that it claims infringe on its patents.
The ITC case goes to trial in August and a final determination is expected in 2010.
Rambus has asked the International Trade Commission to terminate an investigation of Nvidia relating to four patents as part of a November 2008 complaint.
Rambus provides high-speed memory interface technology, though in recent years the company has become better-known for intellectual property litigation practices. Rambus has sued many of the world's largest chip manufacturers.
Nvidia's David Shannon
(Credit: Nvidia)The Los Altos, Calif.-based company conceded before the ITC that Nvidia products do not infringe on its four patents, and also asked for termination of several claims from a fifth patent in the ITC action, according to an Nvidia statement.
"We are pleased Rambus has recognized the weakness of these patents and claims," said David Shannon, Nvidia executive vice president and general counsel in a statement. "These withdrawals represent essentially half of the patents and one third of the claims asserted against us, and we look forward to addressing the remainder of the case."
The current ITC litigation originally included nine patents involving memory controllers related to graphics processors.
In June, Nvidia announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had rejected 41 claims, in seven patents, which Rambus had asserted in the ITC action against NVIDIA.
Rambus has a checkered track record on lawsuits. The European Commission launched antitrust investigations against Rambus in 2007, alleging intentional deceptive conduct in the context of the standard-setting process, citing its behavior as "patent ambush."
In January, a Delaware federal judge ruled that Rambus could not enforce patents against Micron Technology. Judge Sue L. Robinson, in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, ruled on January 9 that evidence "spoliation" occurred when Rambus allegedly destroyed important information related to the case that could be used against it. Robinson's decision rendered Rambus' patents unenforceable.
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