istock-138001565hmproudlove
12 December 2018Patents

Seoul Semiconductor claims victory in LED patent suit

South Korean LED producer Seoul Semiconductor has prevailed in patent litigation brought by Taiwanese competitor Everlight Electronics in Germany.

Seoul Semiconductor announced the win yesterday, December 11.

At the centre of the dispute was a patent relating to an “LED package structure for thermal dissipation”, which Everlight had purchased from a US company in 2017.

After acquiring the patent, Everlight asserted it against Seoul Semiconductor in a lawsuit filed in Mannheim, Germany.

However, earlier this month, the court found in favour of Seoul Semiconductor and held that Everlight must bear the costs of the court proceedings.

It follows a victory for Seoul Semiconductor in February, when the English Patents Court held that Everlight’s UK patent relating to an LED package structure for thermal dissipation is invalid.

The patent in the German and UK cases is the same European patent (1,169,735) that was purchased last year.

In the UK dispute, the Patents Court ordered Everlight to pay Seoul Semiconductor £712,247 ($893,184) in costs.

The South Korean company added that it is pursuing patent infringement suits against a global distributor of Everlight’s high and mid-power LED products in Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Nam Ki-bum, executive vice president of the lighting department of Seoul Semiconductor, said: “Seoul has invested approximately 100 billion South Korean Won ($88.6 million) per year in research and development to ensure that it creates its own cutting-edge technology and products, thereby establishing its own formidable patent portfolio.

“We hope that our commitment and success for technology innovation would inspire young entrepreneurs and small businesses,” he added.

Seoul Semiconductor has been active in enforcing its IP. The South Korean company recently accused consumer electronics retailer Fry’s Electronics of infringing 19 patents, and last year, it sued bulb seller Archipelago Lighting for infringing 12 patents.

It also sued US retailer Kmart for patent infringement, accusing the retailer of selling illegally manufactured product. The companies settled the dispute in 2017.

Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a $4 million jury award in favour of Seoul Semiconductor. However, the court did confirm that the asserted patents, used in flat screen TVs and laptops, are valid and that rival Enplas Corporation had induced infringement of them.

Everlight also enjoyed a recent win at the Federal Circuit, after it reversed a district court’s ruling in a dispute between Boston University and LED manufacturers, including Everlight. The university had failed to meet the enablement requirement of the asserted patents, the court said.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.

Today's top stories

AG spells out rules on phonogram sampling in Kraftwerk case

India publishes draft patent reforms

EU report: 63% of counterfeit customs seizures are small parcels

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Patents
20 November 2018   The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit yesterday handed a partial victory to South Korean LED producer Seoul Semiconductor in a dispute concerning patents used in flat screen TVs and laptops.
Patents
12 July 2019   Korean LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against online retailer Conrad Electronic in a Dusseldorf court.
Patents
6 September 2019   South Korean LED producer Seoul Semiconductor has filed a second patent infringement lawsuit against European retailer Conrad Electronic.