Rambus Tuesday announced that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a ruling vacating the order of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) and instructing that Samsung Electronics' claims against the company be dismissed.
In the ruling, the CAFC ordered that Judge Robert E. Payne's findings against Rambus were made without subject matter jurisdiction and thus became “moot.” Judge Payne's ruling followed a resolution of the case between Rambus and Samsung of certain outstanding DRAM patent claims.
After Rambus resolved an attorney's fees issue in the case, Judge Payne held that the case was "exceptional" and thus attempted to make certain findings against Rambus relating to alleged destruction of documents. “After Rambus offered the entire amount of attorney fees in dispute, the case became moot. The district court had no case or controversy to continue to consider. Thus, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to perpetuate an attorney fees dispute that was complete,” the CAFC ruling reads.
"We are pleased with this decision as it ends a years-long debate and further clears the field to focus on the real issue of the ongoing patent infringement of Samsung and the other DRAM manufacturers," said Tom Lavelle, senior VP and general counsel for Rambus, in a statement. "The case before the CAFC was very technical in nature, and we appreciate the Court's time and diligence in working through the complexities of this matter."
The victory is the latest in a string of DRAM-related wins for Rambus. Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit overturned the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) decisions regarding the Los Altos, Calif-based company’s DRAM and remanded the matter back to the FTC for further proceedings. And in March, Rambus scored a legal victory in a long-running case involving its memory market competitors Hynix Semiconductor, Micron Technologies, and Nanya Technology and JEDEC DRAM standards setting.