In re Rambus, Inc., No. 11-1247 (Fed. Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseThe patent, “Method of Operating a Memory Having a Variable Data Output Length and Programmable Register” is one of a family of patents that claim priority to the 898 Application, which has a priority date of 1990, and, therefore, is now expired. In 2005, Rambus sued Hynix and several other chip manufacturers, including Micron, alleging infringement of several patents in the 898 family. After the district court entered judgment finding infringement, Hynix sought ex parte reexamination of certain claims of the patent. During reexamination, the examiner construed the term “memory device” broadly as a “device[] that allows for the electronic storage and retrieval of information.” Under this construction, the examiner rejected claim 18 as anticipated. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and the Federal Circuit affirmed. Substantial evidence supports the PTO’s determination Claim 18, as correctly construed reads on the “memory module” in the prior art iAPX 432 Interconnect Architecture Reference Manual published by Intel Corp. in 1982.
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