Rambus shares jump on report of near EU settlement

SAN FRANCISCO, June 11 (Reuters) - Shares of Rambus Inc (RMBS.O) rose about 3 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported that the chip designer is close to a settlement of its European Union antitrust case that would not require a fine. Rambus spokeswoman Linda Ashmore said there was nothing official from the European Commission, so the company could not comment.

European regulators accused Rambus in 2007 of participating in JEDEC, an industry standards setting organization, without disclosing that it owned patents the organization decided to implement.

Rambus will offer lower royalty rates on its chip technology but require more customers to pay, according to the Journal's online report, which cited a person familiar with the matter.

The results of the proceedings could be public as soon as Friday, the Journal said.

"If there was truth to the story it will have removed the last of the governmental agencies examining Rambus and its behavior while it was participating in JEDEC," said Capstone Investments analyst Jeff Schreiner.

"The concern on the investors' part was, if you look at the recent fines on Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Intel (INTC.O), that we would see Rambus facing a fine ... and that maybe their patents would be unenforceable in Europe."

"It looks like Rambus has skated away -- if reports are true -- without a fine," he said.

The U.S. Supreme Court in February declined to hear a similar case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, which dismissed the case in May.