Rambus threatens patent litigants with retaliation

A Rambus Inc. executive has admitted the company's intention to punish companies that challenge its patents with higher fees or even denial of licensing rights. Analysts have previously reported Rambus threats to punish Infineon Technologies, Hyundai MicroElectronics, and Micron Technology if the three challengers fail in their efforts to overturn Rambus patents on synchronous memory and processor interface technology.

At a financial conference in New York, the Rambus CFO said, "The companies that litigate against us may pay higher royalty fees, and if they lose, they may not get Rambus patents."

In a related story, Intel has temporarily increased its subsidy of Rambus memory for Pentium 4s by $28.

For more on the retaliation story, click ebnews.com. To read the subsidy story, go to theregister.co.uk.