Wednesday's Tech Winners & Losers

Shares of Rambus (RMBS) were among technology's winners Wednesday, surging 21% after the licensing company said the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California conditionally stayed the last stage of its patent litigation against Hynix.

The court cited two reasons for the stay. One is the potential for a resolution of the case once the Federal Trade Commission sets royalty rates on SDRAM and DDR SDRAM, and the second was to give South Korea's Hynix 90 days to try to establish how any FTC findings apply to this phase of the case. The case was originally filed by Hynix against Rambus in August 2000; Hynix sought declaratory judgments that certain Rambus patents were invalid and hadn't been infringed. Shares of Rambus recently were trading up $1.96 to $13.17.

Internet Security Systems(ISSX) rose 6% after the software company agreed to be acquired by IBM (IBM) for $28 a share in cash. The offer, valued at about $1.3 billion, represents an 8% premium over Internet Security's Tuesday closing price of $26 a share.

"This acquisition will help IBM to provide companies with access to trained experts and leading-edge processes and technology to evaluate and protect against threats and enforce security policies," IBM said in a statement. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. Shares of Internet Security Systems recently were up $1.65 to $27.65.