Chip manufacturer seeks to halt Dreamcast imports

Rambus Inc, developers of high-bandwidth chip-connection technologies, have requested an investigation by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) into "the unlawful importation into the United States, and the sale in the United States after importation, of Hitachi and Sega products, covered by U.S. patents Nos. 6,034,918 and 6,038,195 which are owned by Rambus".

Well, that was a real gobful! Basically, Rambus reckon that Dreamcast's Hitachi SH processor is an infringement of their patent. Therefore, they seek to halt the importation and sale of Hitachi memory and microprocessor products, including Sega Dreamcast game consoles.

Sega are yet to make an official statement, although they have acknowledged that the lawsuit does exist. What we want to know is how on earth a company as big as Sega can make such a major cock-up?