Three patents pertaining to memory chip design that were used to successfully sue HP and Nvidia—dubbed the Barth Patents—are among Rambus’ most valuable IP. Excuse me, they were among Rambus’ most valuable until the US patent office invalidated them.
According to court documents, the US Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the last of the Barth patents this past Tuesday—the other two were struck down in September. Rambus had employed the trio to sue a number of companies, including STMicroelectronics, Broadcom, and MediaTek over the last few years. Rambus’ aggressive litigation for infringement netted it hefty licensing fees from the court settlements. This decision, however, should open the door for the companies to reclaim at least a portion of their settlement sums. [Reuters]
Images via the AP
