Litigation and Asserted Claims	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
LitigationAndAssertedClaimsDisclosureAbstract
Litigation and Asserted Claims	Litigation and Asserted Claims Rambus is not currently a party to any material pending legal proceeding; however, from time to time, Rambus may become involved in legal proceedings or be subject to claims arising in the ordinary course of its business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company currently believes that the final outcome of these ordinary course matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial position or cash flows. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on the Company because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. The Company records a contingent liability when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount is reasonably estimable in accordance with accounting for contingencies. SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, gDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4 Litigation (“DDR2”) U.S District Court in the Northern District of California On January 25, 2005, Rambus filed a patent infringement suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against SK hynix, Infineon, Nanya, and Inotera. On January 13, 2006, Rambus also filed suit against Micron in the same court for patent infringement. Infineon and Inotera were subsequently dismissed from this litigation as was Samsung, which previously had been added as a defendant. Rambus alleged that certain of its patents were infringed by certain of the defendants' DDR2 and other advanced memory products. On June 11, 2013, Rambus and SK hynix announced that they had entered into a settlement of all outstanding disputes between the parties and on December 9, 2013, Rambus and Micron announced that they had entered into a settlement of all outstanding disputes between the parties, which is described in Note 19, "Agreements with SK hynix and Micron." On March 23, 2014, Rambus and Nanya announced that they had entered into a settlement of all outstanding disputes between the parties. As a result of such settlements, all DDR2 litigation has been dismissed.

Litigation and Asserted Claims

Rambus is not currently a party to any material pending legal proceeding; however, from time to time, Rambus may become involved in legal proceedings or be subject to claims arising in the ordinary course of its business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company currently believes that the final outcome of these ordinary course matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial position or cash flows. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on the Company because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.

The Company records a contingent liability when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount is reasonably estimable in accordance with accounting for contingencies.

SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, DDR3, gDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4 Litigation (“DDR2”)

U.S District Court in the Northern District of California

On January 25, 2005, Rambus filed a patent infringement suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against SK hynix, Infineon, Nanya, and Inotera. On January 13, 2006, Rambus also filed suit against Micron in the same court for patent infringement. Infineon and Inotera were subsequently dismissed from this litigation as was Samsung, which previously had been added as a defendant. Rambus alleged that certain of its patents were infringed by certain of the defendants' DDR2 and other advanced memory products. On June 11, 2013, Rambus and SK hynix announced that they had entered into a settlement of all outstanding disputes between the parties and on December 9, 2013, Rambus and Micron announced that they had entered into a settlement of all outstanding disputes between the parties, which is described in Note 19, "Agreements with SK hynix and Micron." On March 23, 2014, Rambus and Nanya announced that they had entered into a settlement of all outstanding disputes between the parties. As a result of such settlements, all DDR2 litigation has been dismissed.