http://www.bigchart.com/news/articles.asp?newsid=776421492&symb=RMBS&sid=41488
<b> UPDATE 1-Rambus tumbles on reports of negative patent ruling
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2001 5:20 PM
- Reuters
(updates with Rambus comment in paragraph 5)
By Timna Tanners
LOS ANGELES, March 15 (Reuters) - Shares of computer chip maker Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ NM:RMBS) lost nearly 32 percent of their value on Thursday amid reports of a negative court ruling on its patents that could cut into its royalties, a significant portion of its revenue.
The company said no ruling on the patents had been issued, and called reports of a negative ruling inaccurate.
Shares of Rambus, which has developed technology to speed the performance of memory chips, fell $11.26 to $24.09 on the Nasdaq, where it was the second biggest percentage loser. The stock was at its lowest level since February 2000, down from a high of $127 hit in June.
Brokerage SG Cowen reported that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne made a pre-trial ruling in its court case with Infineon (NYSE:IFX)
🙂) siding with Infineon regarding the scope of Rambus' patents.
An article posted on Wednesday on Cahners' Electronic News, an online electronic industry news site, also referred to the ruling and said it would limit the scope of Rambus' patents. It said the decision could reject Rambus' royalty claims on synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) and double-date rate (DDR) memory. The article cited sources close to the case.
Rambus spokeswoman Kristine Wiseman called the article inaccurate. "There was no ruling that has been issued as of yet," she told Reuters.
A Richmond, Va., attorney representing Rambus referred calls to the company. An Infineon spokeswoman declined to comment.
"It looks like it's down on an apparent negative ruling in the patent lawsuit with Infineon, although there is no definitive news from the court," said Tim Ghriskey, portfolio manager of the $4 billion Dreyfus Fund, which does not own the stock.
Rambus collects royalties from Samsung
🙂), Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
🙂), NEC Corp.
🙂), Toshiba Corp.
🙂) and Hitachi Ltd.
🙂), and has pending lawsuits to collect royalties from Hyundai Electronics
🙂), Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU) and Infineon.
Rtr 17:20 03-15-01</b>