Infineon challenges Rambus patent infringement suit

In the latest twist of a long, ongoing legal dispute, German chip maker Infineon Technologies has filed a motion with a U.S. judge to dismiss a patent infringement suit brought against it by Rambus.

The motion was filed last week but a redacted version was not made public until Monday when it appeared on the Rambus Web site.

Rambus, in Los Altos, California, has been embroiled in a series of lawsuits with three of the world's leading chip makers, including Munich-based Infineon, Micron Technology Inc. in Boise, Idaho, and South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc., as it seeks to collect royalty payments. Rambus claims that the rival producers of DRAM (dynamic RAM) chips have infringed on its patents. Collectively, the royalties could be worth billions of dollars.

Infineon filed a motion for Virginia District Court Judge Robert Payne to dismiss Rambus' patent infringement suit. The German company based its motion on alleged document destruction and false testimony.

From the start of the litigation, which has been going on for several years, Rambus has accused Hynix, Infineon and Micron of using its patents, while the memory chip makers contend that Rambus didn't mention holding any patents at meetings held by the standards-setting body, JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council).