Micron Technology and Rambus have finally ended the DRAM memory patents, antitrust dispute, with the former agreeing to pay the latter up to $280 million over the next seven years.
The agreement was announced on Monday, December 9, and per the agreement, Micron will be able to use any Rambus patent for the manufacture of "specified integrated circuit products, including any memory integrated circuit products."
The agreement also requires that Micron make quarterly royalty payments to Rambus over the next 7 years capped at $10 million per quarter or $280 million in the initial term.
"This milestone agreement puts years of legal disputes behind both companies and opens doors for future cooperation," said Dr. Ron Black, president and chief executive officer at Rambus. "We continue to focus on developing innovative technology and furthering our more open, collaborative relationship with the broader industry."
"The industry is at an important juncture with the emergence of memory systems and solutions, and Micron is ideally positioned to capitalize on this trend," said Micron CEO Mark Durcan.
Additionally, Micron will also have the option to "extend the initial term of this agreement for additional renewal periods."
Both Micron and Rambus have settled outstanding patents and antitrust claims. Moreover, the agreement covers both Micron and Japan-based Elpida products, which the company acquired earlier this year. Elpida was the result of a merger of Hitachi, Mitsubishi and NEC's memory chip business. The DRAM products made by Elpida are widely used in Apple products like the iPad and iPhone.
However, other terms and conditions of the agreement have not been made public and have been kept confidential.
"The terms of the Elpida agreement were not disclosed," said Jae Kim, Rambus' general counsel.
However, Kim revealed that the Micron agreement replaces a previous Elpida agreement with Rambus.
In the past 14 years, Rambus has sued or made settlements with every major player in the memory chip arena. In 2010, it made a settlement for $900 million with Samsung and now receives nearly $12 million every quarter from Hynix, post a settlement this June.
Shares of Micron were down 2.12 percent at $22.65 during morning trading session on the NASDAQ on Wednesday. Shares of Rambus were up 1.98 percent at $9.77 on the NASDAQ.
