Rambus says court sides with it in Samsung suit

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Memory chip technology developer Rambus Inc (RMBS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday that a U.S. appeals court sided with the company in a long-running lawsuit that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) had filed against Rambus.

Rambus said that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a ruling vacating the order of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and instructed that Samsung's claims be dismissed.

Shares of Rambus rose over 5 percent on the news.

"This has been a thorn in Rambus' side for literally years and today's decision looks like it will put an end to a venue that has consistently been bad for Rambus," said Michael Cohen, an analyst at Pacific American Securities LLC, referring to the Eastern District.

Cohen said he personally owns 500 shares of Rambus, and Pacific American Securities has no banking interests with Rambus or other conflicts.

"Rambus wrote them a check for attorney's fees that Samsung was claiming and now they have no issue," Cohen said.

"We are pleased with this decision as it ends a years-long debate and further clears the field to focus on the real issue of the ongoing patent infringement of Samsung and the other (dynamic random access memory) manufacturers," said Tom Lavelle, general counsel for Los Altos, California-based Rambus in a statement.

"Once the underlying attorney fees were offered, the case was moot and the trial court lacked jurisdiction," the court wrote. "The case is remanded to the district court with the instruction that the court dismiss Samsung's complaint."

Shares of Rambus rose $1.22, or 5.5 percent, to $23.50.

(Reporting by Duncan Martell, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)