California waits for Delaware in Rambus patent infringement suit

California's Federal District Court placed an indefinite delay on Rambus' coordinated SDRAM patent infringement suit against Micron, Hynix, Samsung, and Nanya yesterday.

District court Judge Ronald M. Whyte based his ruling on the January 9 Delaware District Court decision by Judge Sue L. Robinson that Rambus' patents are unenforceable due to conflicting views of the two courts.

An earlier ruling by California courts found that Rambus had not destroyed crucial evidence, but Delaware's ruling found extensive spoliation conduct which included the destruction of documents relating to all aspects of Rambus' business. Pending Rambus' appeals to the Delaware ruling, the case could be permanently stayed.

In a separate ruling, the court also dismissed Hynix's motion for a summary judgment based on the Delaware case.

"While we are disappointed with the stay of the coordinated cases, it is our expectation that the conflicting opinions of the district courts regarding document spoliation will go up together on appeal," said Rambus' Senior Vice President and General Counsel Tom Lavelle.

Speaking of conflicting opinions, Micron's Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel said, "We believe that Judge Robinson's thorough decision will be upheld on appeal."