Rambus Inc. v. Infineon Technologies AG, 318 F. 3d 1081 (Fed. Cir. 2003)

Patton Boggs represented Rambus, a manufacturer of computer memory devices, in an appeal of district court rulings in a dispute with competitor Infineon. Rambus had earlier sued Infineon for patent infringement; Infineon counterclaimed for fraud under Virginia state law, based on Rambus’ non-disclosure to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council, which develops and issues technical standards for computer memory devices. The district court granted judgment as a matter of law of non-infringement in favor of Infineon. The trial jury returned a verdict that Rambus committed fraud during standardization processes.

Patton Boggs was one of several firms representing Rambus on appeal, and had a substantial role in preparing the appellate briefs. The Federal Circuit reinstated Rambus’ patent infringement claims against Infineon, dismissed the fraud finding against Rambus, eliminated substantial attorneys’ fees that Rambus had been ordered to pay, and lifted a permanent injunction against Rambus. This landmark case had an extraordinary effect on the standard setting process, particularly as related to high-tech products and services. Analysts have estimated the value of this case to be in the $1 billion range.