14 DAY TRIAL // Based on this latest deal, long-time patent troll Rambus may actually be putting some effort into breaking out of that unfortunate reputation.
After years of living off patent infringement lawsuit settlements, Rambus is making some actual business deals for once.
The latest of them is an agreement signed with MediaTek Inc. for the use of Rambus patents in various integrated circuit products.
Then again, this may not qualify as proof that Rambus is laying off with all the lawsuits.
After all, this is, in itself, a sort of settlement: the two companies have been embroiled in a case of infringement for a while.
All outstanding claims have been dropped with this announcement, but that isn't enough to turn this event into the sort of deal Toshiba signed last year.
"Consumer demand for increasing flexibility in electronic products is at the forefront of disruptive change. We are pleased to sign this agreement with MediaTek, one of the global leaders in SoC systems solutions, to enable greater mobility and accessibility for consumer devices," said Sharon Holt, senior vice president and general manager of the Semiconductor Business Group at Rambus.
"We are committed to the development of innovative new technologies that help our licensees bring superior products to market."
The agreement with MediaTek will last five years, after which it may or may not be renewed.
Other recent settlements are the one with NVIDIA (though it didn't happen until Rambus lost a major patent altogether) and the one with investor Stuart J. Steele (where it was Rambus who had to pay). Meanwhile, the firm bought Unity Semiconductor.
All in all, there are faint hints that Rambus is trying to clean up its act, but there are still a bunch of cases going on and we wouldn't be surprised to hear about another one starting up.