The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled against Samsung, saying the South Korean electronics giant is not entitled to pay a lower royalty rate to Rambus beyond June 30, 2005, according to Rambus (Los Altos, Calif.).

The court agreed with Samsung (Seoul, South Korea) that it was entitled under a clause in the license agreement signed by the two companies in 2000 to pay the lower royalty set forth in the March 2005 settlement, Rambus said. But the court said Samsung was not entitled to pay that lower royalty beyond June 30, 2005, the date that the license was set to expire, Rambus said.

According to Rambus, the court also ruled that the license between the two companies did not cover DDR2 and future generation products, contrary to Samsung's contention. The court also ruled that Rambus did not fail to negotiate an extension or renewal license in good faith, Rambus said.

The court determined that Rambus failed to prove that Samsung had breached the license's audit provisions and found that Rambus had improperly terminated the license on that basis, Rambus said.

But the court concluded that this termination did not cause the parties' failure to reach agreement on an extension or renewal, Rambus said.