European Commission gets tough with chip firm.
The European Commission has issued a Statement of Objections against chip firm Rambus over alleged violations of European Union competition laws.
The statement outlines the Commission's preliminary view that Rambus engaged in "intentional deceptive conduct" in the standard-setting process.
For example, the Commission accused the chip maker of not disclosing the existence of the patents which it later claimed were relevant to the adopted standard, a tactic known as a 'patent ambush'.
As a result every manufacturer wishing to produce synchronous DRam chips or chipsets has had to acquire a licence from Rambus or litigate its asserted patent rights.
The Commission is considering whether Rambus breached EC Treaty's rules on abuse of a dominant market position by subsequently claiming unreasonable royalties for the use of those relevant patents.
Initial views by the Commission suggest that, without its 'patent ambush', Rambus would not have been able to charge the royalty rates.
The investigation follows complaints to the Commission from some DRam manufacturers originating with Rambus' participation in an industry standard-setting organisation, the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (Jedec).
Rambus has largely dismissed the objections as a procedural step in the Commission's antitrust investigation, but will be examining the case to offer an appropriate response.
"The issues raised by the Commission include Rambus' participation in Jedec that ended over a decade ago," said Thomas Lavelle, senior vice president and general counsel at Rambus.
"These are largely the same issues examined by a number of US courts, the Federal Trade Commission and currently before the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. We are studying the Statement of Objections and plan to respond in due course."
The Commission will review responses to the Statement of Objections in order to determine whether to issue a final decision.
Any decision would be subject to appeal to both the European Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice.
Rambus has nine weeks to reply to the Statement of Objections, after which it will have the right to be heard.
If the preliminary views expressed in the Statement of Objections are confirmed, the Commission may require Rambus to cease the abuse and may impose a fine.