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Rambus, the litigious memory interface specialist, has laid off a fifth of its workforce with the aim of saving $17m annually.

Rambus will reduce its workforce by approximately 90 positions and will take a restructuring charge, on a cash basis, of approximately $4m in the next two quarters, primarily related to severance expenses.

"With this restructuring and related cost saving measures, Rambus expects cash savings of approximately $17m annually, principally due to reduced compensation related expenses", says a Rambus statement.

"This is a difficult but appropriate adjustment that will position us to succeed in our strategic objectives," said Harold Hughes, president and CEO at Rambus.

"These steps will enable us to enhance our investments in breakthrough technology and strengthen our efforts to protect and be fully compensated for our patented inventions. We remain dedicated to the product commitments that we have made to our customers including the continued support of our leadership XDR memory architecture." 

The savings realized through the restructuring are a combination of reduction in workforce across the company's global operations in a number of both engineering and non-engineering positions as well as a reduction in non-workforce related expenses.

After the restructuring, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Rambus will have a headcount of approximately 340 employees.

Rambus has been engaged in over a decade of litigation with most of its potential customers which are the DRAM manufacturing companies. This has led to very large legal fees which are currently running at between $12m and $16m a quarter.

Last month, Rambus sued Nvidia for allegedly infringing Rambus DDR memory controller patents. Rambus says it is seeking 'treble damages for wilfulness'.

If Rambus manages to get Hynix barred from selling DRAM into the US, which it is trying to do, this could, theoretically, force Hynix and other DRAM manufacturers to pay up to an estimated $10 billion on damages.

If that happened, Rambus' shares, it is estimated, could be worth $100 each. Currently they're worth $16.75 each. If the damages don't get granted, then the shares are forecast to drop to $5 each.

Meanwhile Samsung has asked the US Patent Office to re-examine some of Rambus' patent claims, and Hynix has asked the US courts to take notice of these re-examinations.

And the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked for a review of a judgment favourable to Rambus in its action against Hynix which was made by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Additionally, Rambus has legal cases running against Samsung and Micron Technology. It may also be preparing to start legal actions against manufacturers of synchronous flash memory.

See also: Mannerisms, the blog of David Manners. Updated twice daily, it's the distinctive, entertaining, authoritative and never dull commentary on the semiconductor industry, from someone who knows. Sign up for the Mannerisms eNewsletter.