A U.S. Federal Trade Commission ruling released Aug. 2 unanimously charged Los Altos-based Rambus Inc. with violating the Sherman antitrust act and illegally monopolizing markets for computer memory technologies.

Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour said that the memory chip company violated antitrust laws when it failed to tell a standard-setting group about Rambus’ patent applications.

“Rambus’ abuse of JEDEC’s (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard-setting process was intentional, inappropriate and injurious to competition and consumers alike,” wrote FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz to a local news source.

According to Rambus Senior Legal Adviser John Danforth, Rambus will appeal the opinion, which reflects a reversal of a 2004 decision by an FTC administrative local judge.

Both the company and the FTC have until Sept. 15 to file article on the ruling. Replies are scheduled for Sept. 29. At that time the decision on remedies or compensations will be announced. Penalties could include loss of profits from affected companies, mandatory lower prices on Rambus products, and/or loss of royalties on the contested patents.

Rambus stock has already reflected the impact of the ruling. It fell from $16.99 the day before the announcement to $10 on Monday, a drop of more than 40 percent of its value.

Rambus spokeswoman Linda Ashmore did not return Town Crier calls by press deadline.