Rambus sues Nvidia over memory patents

Rambus claims that at least six Nvidia product lines infringe on its patents

Rambus has filed a lawsuit accusing Nvidia of violating 17 of its memory patents.

The suit alleges that at least six of Nvidia's product lines infringe on Rambus patents, including chipsets, graphics processors and applications processors.

Rambus, which derives the bulk of its revenue from licensing patents for chip interfaces, filed the suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on 10 July.

The move is the latest in a long string of court actions filed by Rambus against companies outside the memory industry.

Rambus has requested an injunction to prevent Nvidia from selling products which it claims infringe its patents, as well as monetary damages.

"For more than six years we have diligently attempted to negotiate a licensing agreement with Nvidia, but our good faith efforts have been to no avail," said Tom Lavelle, senior vice president and general counsel at Rambus.

"We are left with no other recourse than litigation to protect and seek fair compensation for the use of our patented inventions."

Despite filing the suit, Lavelle said that Rambus would continue to attempt to negotiate a licensing deal with Nvidia.