Why is the LED lighting industry patent drama continue to stage?

The patent war is an eternal topic in the LED industry, and there is a growing trend. In particular, the activities of foreign LED companies such as Seoul Semiconductor, Nichia Chemical, Toyota Synthetic, and Osram are frequent.

Seoul Semiconductor receives a permanent lock-up order against patent infringement in the US

Seoul Semiconductor issued a press release stating that it won a patent infringement lawsuit against Service Lighting And Electrical Supplies, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "1000bulbs.com"), the operator of the largest LED lighting online sales platform "1000bulbs.com" in the United States. The product received a permanent lock-up order.

Generally, in US patent litigation, even if it is found to be infringing, it will only determine that the infringer pays the license fee according to a certain percentage of the sales amount. The Permanent Injunction is very rare. Prohibition of sales is only granted if the technical value of the patent is very high and the sale of the infringer is not prohibited, causing irreparable damage to the patentee. In fact, more than 4,000 patent litigations are filed each year in the United States, but fewer than 10 cases per year receive a “permanent lock-up order”.

In the patent lawsuit filed in Seoul in December 2018 and August 2019 in Seoul, the court not only prohibited the infringing party from selling infringing products, but also decided to recall all the products sold. Previously, the German District Court had ruled that Everlight Electronics' Taiwanese LED manufacturer's '2835 LED package' product, which was circulated by Mouser Electronics, constituted a patent infringement against Seoul Semiconductor and released the sale of the product. A permanent ban, while ordering recalls of related products sold since February 2017.

The effectiveness of this judgment applies not only to the prosecution of more than 50 lighting and other related products, but also to all LED luminaires using similar patented technologies. When Seoul Semiconductor discovers additional infringing products and submits evidence to the court, the court shall make a ban on sales of these products in accordance with the summary procedure.

This patent is a total of 10 core technologies for the manufacture of LED luminaires, including the "Multi-Wavelength Insulation Reflector" widely used in the Mid-Power package of 0.5W to 3W. "Multi Junction Technology" in which a plurality of LED chips are collected in a small light-emitting surface, a driver technology as a current conversion and loop control integrated device, and a technique for improving package durability. Among them, "multi-junction chip technology" is used for high-voltage lighting products of 12V and above, and is the Acrich technology that Seoul Semiconductor invented in the world. With the simple design changes of smart phones, LEDs as their main accessories have gradually changed to the second generation of high-efficiency, high-quality products. Seoul Semiconductor's patent litigation of smart phones is also a lawsuit to maintain this second-generation technology.

Comparison table of changes in characteristics of LED technology

On behalf of the director of Seoul Semiconductor Li Yixun, "I hope that the success story of Seoul Semiconductor can bring hope to Korean young people and SMEs who challenge their dreams", "with the hope of giving little hope to young entrepreneurs, to steal technology and The company of personnel is willing to fight all the way to deal with it."

Seoul Semiconductor LED Patent Technology

Osram filed a patent lawsuit in the US

Recently, OSRAM announced that it has filed a patent lawsuit against the US LED lighting products manufacturer Lighting Science Group (LSG) and its subsidiary Healthe, Inc. in the US District Court for Delaware.

According to the news, OSRAM advocates that LSG and its subsidiaries infringe on its eight patents (US Patent Nos. 6,848,819 7,045,956 7,227,191 7,642,734 7,957,146 7,994,519 9,241,392 and 9,698,282), and the patented technology covers LED lighting solutions, LED lighting systems and their components.

OSRAM has more than 2,000 patents in the US and has published more than 17,000 patents and applications worldwide. The patent portfolio covers high-tech semiconductor technologies such as LEDs and laser lighting to intelligent networked lighting solutions and architectural and urban systems.

Currently, OSRAM is defending itself in the US International Trade Commission ("ITC") and the Delaware District Court for alleged infringement of LSG's three patents. OSRAM is convinced that LSG's claims are unfounded and has submitted a multi-review request to the US Patent and Trademark Office to challenge the validity of the three LSG patents.