Wired calls it "the trial of the century, at least as far as the memory industry is concerned." In fact, the computer industry's future could be significantly impacted, at least for the next several years, by what happens when chipmakers Micron Technology and Hyundai meet Rambus in a German court this week.

Rambus Inc. alleges that Micron and Hyundai are infringing its patents by manufacturing SDRAM and DDR DRAM, Similar charges have been made against Infineon. All told, billions of dollars in annual licensing fees are at stake as Rambus agreements with seven other memory makers depend on the results of the trial. Even if Rambus wins these patent infringement cases, the company is still vulnerable to charges that its patents are improperly based on information discussed at the Joint Electronic Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) standards group.

Next month, Rambus and Infineon meet in a US court and, In May, Rambus faces Micron.

Read the source article at news.com.