The controversies surrounding Rambus' conduct at JEDEC go back 12 years. Rambus first filed the specifications for its memory patents in April 1990. In February 1992, it joined JEDEC. The group subsequently adopted standards relating to SDRAM. In 1996, Rambus left JEDEC. While a member of JEDEC, Rambus didn't try to persuade JEDEC memory committees to vote on proposals that would affect its patents and didn't vote on any, Rambus officials have said. Doing nothing, however, was a violation of the law, the memory makers have claimed. Although the original claim was filed in 1990, Rambus didn't receive its patents, or make them fully public, until after it left JEDEC. By then, SDRAM was already established as the next standard for memory. "If Rambus had disclosed these patents at JEDEC, we contend that these standards would never have been adopted," Patrick Lynch, a lawyer for Hynix, said in one of the hearings in the Rambus-Hynix lawsuits. "The intent was to have an open standard." The memory manufacturers also have alleged in court that Rambus adjusted its patents based on information it gained by being a member of JEDEC. Privately, however, some memory executives and sources close to JEDEC have said that the organisation's bylaws could have been clearer. JEDEC required that members disclose and license relevant patents but often didn't enforce the rule. The group's bylaws also are vague on what sort of penalties could be imposed on violators. Since then, the organisation and its members have more vigorously followed the guidelines, one source said. The issue continues to spark disagreements. "I don't think I've seen anything in particular that shows Rambus did anything illegal, but they should have been more forthcoming in explaining their situation when they were at JEDEC," Microprocessor Report's Glaskowsky said.
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