Competitive disadvantage

Hynix Semiconductors is on the ropes and Rambus Inc. investors want Judge Whyte to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee - a very big and nasty bee.

It has been months (June '08) since Judge Whyte heard oral arguments regarding Rambus's request that His Honor enjoin Hynix - the loser to Rambus of three phase trial - from selling infringing memory chips in the United States. 

There is no time like today for bringing out an early Thanksgiving feast for Rambus Inc.

Some pundits opine that Hynix would be at a competitive disadvantage if only its products were stopped at the border. Too bad. In the end, the rest of the cartel will face a similar fate.

Just yesterday, Judge Whyte found that Hynix, Micron and Samsung infringed on one claim of a Rambus patent in yet another pending trial. This trial is scheduled for January 2009 and relates to more recent generations of memory products. While Judge Whyte left Rambus's remaining claims in the January trial in the hands of the yet selected jury, one infringing claim is enough to seal the manufacturer's fates.