Technology giant Sun Microsystems and chip designer Rambus are being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission over allegations that they illegally failed to disclose the existence of their patents or pending patent applications when helping set industry standards, according to a report by USA Today.

According to USA Today, the FTC is reviewing whether Sun failed to disclose patents when helping with an industry standard for computer memory modules. Rambus is alleged to have failed to disclose its patent application for a memory chip standard.

The last similar FTC action was in 1996, when it stopped Dell enforcing a patent for a method of data transfer. However, the case left open the question of how much patent disclosure is required by law when a company is assisting in setting industry standards.

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