nend. Unberührt von der Klage sind zumindest die Einkünfte aus den RDRAM. Die Zahlungen für die anderen Chips werden zukünftig eh zurückgehen, da die Technologie überholt ist.
Chip designer Rambus' (RMBS:Nasdaq - news) shares plummeted Thursday
after a published report sparked speculation that a lawsuit is headed in
opponent Infineon Technologies' (IFX:NYSE - news) favor.
Investors grabbed on to the possibility that a decision in the suit would cost
Rambus the royalty revenue it's after from Infineon and other chipmakers.
They had driven down Rambus' stock more than 30% by the time the trading
day was finished. It closed off $11.26, or 32%, at $24.09. Rambus doesn't
actually build chips -- it designs and patents them and then collects royalty
payments.
The downward move is extreme even in this bear market and harkens back to
the time when Rambus regularly moved 20% in one day on the mere
suggestion of a turn in its uncertain fortunes. Whether this newest decline is
justified -- or just the result of speculation and Internet message boards --
may be made clear Friday.
The judge overseeing the case issued a ruling Thursday that will become
public Friday. Infineon declined to comment on the contents of that ruling.
Rambus spokesman Gary Harmon said that investors' interpretation of the
ruling's impact -- whether it's for or against Rambus -- is wrong.
Rambus is suing Infineon Technologies over patents that Rambus says it
holds on two types of DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, called
synchronous DRAM, or SDRAM, and double data rate DRAM, or DDR. As
such, Rambus wants to collect royalties on the SDRAM and DDR that
Infineon makes. Currently Rambus' revenue in general comes from royalties
on Rambus DRAM, or RDRAM, which isn't at issue here.
This suit is one of several that Rambus is involved in over similar issues both
in the U.S. and overseas, but it's the most important one right now because
it's the one closest to an actual trial, set to begin March 20.
Speculation that the judge in the federal court in Virginia was leaning toward
an Infineon-friendly ruling -- specifically a partial summary judgment on what
should be included in the trial -- took off Thursday as a report published
Wednesday by Cahners publication Electronic News Online gained
momentum. The story cites judicial sources as saying that a pretrial ruling
from the judge will limit the scope of Rambus' patents on DDR and SDRAM.
This ruling is based on testimony from a hearing that took place in February.
The notion became more credible on Thursday morning when investment bank
SG Cowen wrote in its morning technology update, TechRadar, that the
ruling had come down and was a clear negative for Rambus. The note said
that the ruling had sided with Infineon on the scope of Rambus patents,
saying that the patents covered the multiplex bus in SDRAM and DDR, which
Infineon doesn't use. (SG Cowen hasn't done underwriting for Rambus.)
"I think people are misinterpreting what the ruling might mean when it comes
out," Harmon said. "This is a relatively minor part of a patent case."
Harmon went on to explain that at issue in the ruling is the breadth of the
definition of a technology term in the patents. If the judge chooses a narrow
definition, that could make it more difficult for the jury to understand Rambus'
claims regarding its patents, he said.
"I think people jumped from that to, 'Gee, maybe the case against Infineon
won't go forward and this will affect the case with Micron (MU:NYSE - news)
and Hyundei and that will affect royalties from SDRAM and DDR,' and none
of that is true," he said.
The contents of that ruling, which wasn't actually issued until late Thursday
afternoon, are scheduled to become public Friday, according to the clerk's
office at the Richmond, Va., court.
With the trial not due to start until March 20, investors now need to decide if
they want to base their investment on what's in that ruling, and what it'll mean
to the jury.
Gruß Dampf