The judge in Monza, Italy, declined a request for a preliminary injunction against Micron, and the case will now proceed to the district court of Milan. The court appointed independent experts in the Monza court determined that the Rambus patents were valid and that Micron’s SDRAM products infringed them, however, the court overruled their findings.
"We are disappointed with the Monza judge's decision to overrule the conclusions of the expert report," said Geoff Tate, CEO of Rambus, "but we look forward to receiving a full hearing on our infringement case against Micron in Milan. Rambus is committed to protecting its intellectual property, and it is our right, as well as our obligation to our shareholders to take all the appropriate measures to protect our patented innovations."
Rambus is involved in a number of other patent infringement lawsuits. In the recent US action it brought against Infineon, the court threw out all 57 of Rambus’ infringement claims and allowed a jury to consider Infineon’s counter-claim. Consequently, Rambus was found guilty of fraud and ordered to pay $3.5 million in punitive damages. It has said it will appeal the ruling.