But memory manufacturers have balked at having to make bigger, more expensive Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) chips when their existing lines of SDRAM were beginning to turn profitable after an industrywide downturn.

FORBES: Rambus Patent Army Marches On

Should Rambus make its patent claims stick, the cost of the commodity DRAM business, which already operates with razor-thin profit margins, will be greater.

FORBES: Rambus Patent Army Marches On

"You can't fault Rambus for trying to make the most out of their patents, " says Steven Cullen, a DRAM analyst at Cahners In-Stat Group.

FORBES: Rambus Patent Army Marches On