UPDATE 3-Rambus trial vs chipmakers faces another delay

* Judge says trial will not occur before March 22

* Judge says trial should be shorter now without Samsung

* Rambus asked for court cost in event of delay

* Shares down 1.9 percent

(Adds byline, detail on sealed request, updates shares)

By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - An antitrust lawsuit pitting chip designer Rambus Inc (RMBS.O) against Hynix Semiconductor Inc (000660.KS) and Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) will not begin for several months after the judge granted a motion to delay trial proceedings on Thursday.

Judge Richard Kramer granted a motion to continue, or delay, what he called "a major case" for a few months after a discussion with attorneys from both sides in his chambers.

"I would like to get this trial started, but there is a good cause to continue this trial for 60 days," Kramer said without further explaining the "good cause."

Jury selection had been set for last week in San Francisco Superior Court in the case, in which Rambus accused the two companies and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) of colluding to fix prices, hurting sales of Rambus's RDRAM memory chips for computers.

But Micron asked for a two-month postponement last week over the health concerns of one of its lawyers. That request, filed under seal, did not identify the lawyer or the health concern and no mention of either was made in open court on Thursday.

Samsung reached a settlement with Rambus on Tuesday that could be worth $900 million the next five years. Rambus did not say whether it was engaged in settlement talks with Micron and Hynix. [ID:nN1998943]

Earlier on Thursday, Kramer asked attorneys from all sides to submit revised witness and exhibit lists to reflect the impact of Samsung's settlement.

"We've been talking about how long this trial will take for many, many months," said Kramer. "The point of this exercise is how long is the trial going to take now that we have one party gone?"

Rambus shares fell 1.96 percent to close at $24.02 and Micron shares were down 1.8 percent at $9.80 on the Nasdaq.

Rambus had argued against Micron's request for a two-month delay in the 5-1/2-year-old case, saying a lengthy postponement would be expensive and a hardship to witnesses who arranged their schedules around the trial.

The case was halted for 15 weeks last year to accommodate a Samsung lawyer's medical issues and Rambus said further delays would cost it the services of its own lawyer, Susan Boyd, who is due to give birth in July.

Rambus also had argued that Micron blocked a postponement in a separate case in Delaware federal court when Rambus's lead counsel was struck with tongue cancer in 2007.

But Rambus suggested it could tolerate a one-month delay as long as Micron paid its additional legal costs and the trial concluded by Mother's Day.

The case is Rambus v. Micron Technology Inc et al, No. 04-421105, San Francisco Superior Court. (Reporting by Gina Keating in Los Angeles, Alexandria Sage and Ian Sherr in San Francisco; editing by Leslie Gevirtz, Robert MacMillan and Andre Grenon)