Samsung Electronics to pay Rambus $900 mln for new license deal

By Lee Youkyung

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chipmaker, said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Rambus Inc. on a new license deal that would cost the South Korean company US$900 million and end a five-year legal battle over memory chip technology.

Under the new agreement, Samsung will initially pay $200 million as a royalty to
the Los Altos, California-based technology licensing company for using its
semiconductor technology, the South Korean company said in a filing.
The deal also calls for Samsung to pay $25 million each quarter over the next
five years to Jan. 18, 2015 and invest $200 million in the U.S. company's shares,
according to the filing.
The agreement ends all legal claims over patent infringements filed by Rambus in
2005, alleging that Samsung infringed on its patent technology after the two
companies failed to extend a previous licensing agreement over dynamic random
access memory (DRMA) chip technology. Samsung lodged a countersuit against Rambus
in response.
"We saw a high growth potential in Rambus' low-power memory chip technology and
hope to continue technological innovation through the investment," said an
official at Samsung, which will take an 8 percent stake in Rambus under to the
new agreement.
Rambus won a case against South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor, the world's
second-largest memory chipmaker, in March of 2009. Under the ruling Hynix has
been ordered to pay $397 million in compensation and royalties to Rambus. Hynix
has appealed the ruling.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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