Antitrust
Case: Federal Trade Commission v. Rambus
Client: Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
Venue: Federal Trade Commission Hearing, Washington, DC
Year: 2003-04
Examples
The Federal Trade Commission alleged that our
client, Rambus, concealed patent applications for more than four years
while participating in an industry group that was developing an open
standard for a widely used piece of computer chip technology. The
FTC brought an antitrust complaint against Rambus, saying that its
patents for "synchronous dynamic random access memory" could
illegally extract more than $1 billion from the memory chip industry.
The FTC's action threatened Rambus' core asset, its intellectual property,
and presented our client with a "bet-the-company" scenario.
Challenges:
Counsel for Rambus would need to describe the process and rules of
the group responsible for setting open industry standards. In particular,
Think Twice would need to illustrate the disclosure policies required
of group members, and their implications given Rambus' participation
in the standards setting body.
Counsel would also need to compare the patent
application process, with all of its vagaries, to the complicated
process of setting technology standards. Finally, the judge presiding
over the matter would require a tutorial on Rambus' technology and
its market opportunity.
Solutions:
Working with technical experts, economists and counsel, Think Twice
created a series of demonstratives that built a foundation of understanding
for the mission of the standards setting body, its complex workings
and approval processes.
We created a number of still graphics, technical
illustrations and animations to explain a wide variety of market and
technical issues.
Think Twice provided continuous graphic support to counsel throughout
more than two months of trial in Washington, DC.
Outcome:
The judge ruled that the FTC failed to "sustain its burden of
establishing liability for the violations alleged" and dismissed
the case. Counsel for Rambus has retained Think Twice for support
in patent-infringement actions against a number of other companies
as a consequence of this ruling.
Services Provided
• Strategic Planning
• Creative Development
• Graphic Design
• Technical and Medical Illustrations
• Tutorials
• Deposition and Impeachment Exhibits
• Video Editing
• 2D and 3D Animations
• Still Graphics, Slides and Boards
• Document Scanning and Coding
• Databasing
• War-Room Management
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