In its attempt to settle a European Union antitrust investigation going on against it for the last two years, memory- chip designer Rambus Inc has agreed to reduce its patent royalty rates for a few products, and thus go by the royalty rates that are acceptable to the Commission.

The European Commission had alleged that the California-based Rambus was guilty of "patent ambush," as it did not reveal the scope of its patents - which, according to its later claims, were covered by industry standards - and then demanded "unreasonable royalties."

According to the agreement, while some of Rambus' older products will be free; the highest royalty rates for other licenses for SDR memory controllers of different kinds will vary from 1.5 percent to 2.65 percent apiece, from April, 2010. The rates will remain effective for five years after the Commission officially adopts the pronouncement. Talking about the proposed settlement over a telephonic interview, Rambus' general counsel Tom Lavelle said that the agreement does not require Rambus to either pay a fine or to confess any unlawful activities.

Saying that the verdicts given by different courts indicated the company had gone "nothing wrong," Lavelle added: "With this proposed resolution, we create a new platform where all parties can move forward by licensing our patented innovations for future use in their products rather than engaging in costly litigation."