Opinion ID: 216683
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council

Text: Beginning in February 1992, Rambus became a member of the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC), an open standard setting organization that developed (and continues to develop) standards for semiconductor products, including computer memory interfaces, to facilitate the interchangeability of products produced by different manufacturers. Members of a JEDEC committee meet several times a year to hear presentations by other members on proposed features to be included in the standard. The members then vote for which features to include. Rambus was represented at JEDEC by Richard Crisp. After Crisp heard presentations on features to be included in the standard at JEDEC, he would discuss the inventions with the attorneys prosecuting Rambus's patents, signaling them to direct Rambus's prosecution efforts to cover those features. JEDEC Trial Tr. vol. 5 day 5, 990, 993. See also Reply Br. of Rambus, Inc., Rambus Inc. v. Infineon Techs. AG, 318 F.3d 1081, 1085 (Fed.Cir. 2003) ( Infineon ), at 62 (Rambus changed its pending patent claims based on discussions at public JEDEC meetings.). Under JEDEC policies, the members agreed to participate in good faith under policies and procedures which will assure fairness and unrestricted participation. Crisp, made no secret of the fact that he did not attend JEDEC in good faith, if good faith means that you are attending JEDEC with the goal of creating an open standard for JEDEC SDRAM. Several JEDEC rules governed the behavior of members, including Manual 21-I, discussed below. Estoppel, 609 F.Supp.2d at 999-1000. As of 1993, JEDEC policy required members to disclose patents and patent applications `related to' the standardization work of the committees. Infineon, 318 F.3d at 1085. Crisp disclosed one patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,243,703 ('703 patent) to JEDEC in September 1993. Id. This patent has a substantially similar specification to the patents in suit, differing only in the claims. During Rambus's membership, JEDEC adopted SDRAM as a standard. The SDRAM standard incorporated features such as programmable CAS latency, programmable burst length, externally supplied reference voltage, and two-bank design. Id. In December 1995, Rambus attended its last meeting as a member of JEDEC, and formally resigned in June 1996. Meanwhile, by December 1996, JEDEC was busy working on the successor to SDRAM, DDR SDRAM. Id. DDR SDRAM incorporated source-synchronous clocking, low-voltage swing signaling, dual clock edging, and on-chip delay locked loop. Id. After Rambus's formal resignation, Crisp continued to receive reports from sources termed deep throat and secret squirrel regarding the progress of the JEDEC RAM committee through at least December 1997.