Hynix open to negotiation with Rambus over legal dispute: CEO

(ATTN: UPDATES headline, lead with CEO comments)
By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- Hynix Semiconductor Inc. is willing to negotiate with
Rambus Inc. on the settlement of a decade-long legal dispute over the use of
patented chip technology if the U.S.-based firm proposes a reasonable deal, the
chief of the South Korean company said Thursday.
"If Rambus suggests a reasonable alternative, we are willing to continue
negotiations with them," Hynix CEO Kim Jong-kap told reporters after an investor
meeting.
Hynix has been in talks with the technology licensing firm over the dispute on
the use of the memory chip technology that Rambus claims to hold the patent to,
but there has been "a considerable gap" between the two, he said.
The remark by the head of the world's second-largest memory chip maker comes a
day after Samsung Electronics Co., its larger rival, settled a suit with Rambus
in a new license deal that could end up costing the tech giant US$900 million
over the next five years.
In March, a U.S. court ruled in favor of Rambus in a case alleging that Hynix
infringed on 15 Rambus patents related to dynamic random access memory chip
technology.
The court ordered Hynix to pay $397 million in compensation and additional
royalties to the Los Altos, California-based technology licensing company. Hynix
lodged an appeal in April.
"Such issues are always open to settlement. It is just a matter of how much we
can narrow the difference," Kim added. "It depends on what kind of reasonable
alternative Rambus can suggest."
Earlier in the day, Hynix reported its second straight profitable quarter,
logging 657 billion won (US$578 million) between October-December, compared with
a net loss of 1.69 trillion won in the same period a year ago.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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