Antitrust & Trade Regulation Update (May 2008)

UNITED STATES

Appeals Court Overturns FTC Ruling Against Rambus

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has overturned the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) administrative ruling against technology licensing company Rambus Inc., remanding the case to the FTC for further proceedings. Rambus was originally charged with manipulating industry standard setting procedures in favor of its own proprietary technologies. Specifically, the company was alleged to have deceived the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) and its members by failing to disclose patents on technologies that the JEDEC adopted into industry standards. The technologies involved are widely used in consumer electronics including personal computers and servers.