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6 September 2019PatentsSarah Morgan

Seoul Semiconductor takes Conrad to court, again

South Korean LED producer Seoul Semiconductor has filed a second patent infringement lawsuit against European retailer Conrad Electronic.

This time, in a suit filed at the District Court of Mannheim in Germany, Seoul Semiconductor accused Conrad of infringing its patent through the sale of LEDs for the flashlights of phones.

Seoul Semiconductor’s patent covers “the roughened light extraction surface” technology that extracts light emitted from the internal LED structure by treating LED chip surfaces. According to the South Korean company, its technology significantly increases the brightness emitted from a phone.

In July this year, Seoul Semiconductor took Conrad to the  District Court of Düsseldorf over allegations that the European retailer was infringing through the sale of backlit mobile phones.

Seoul Semiconductor’s LED technology has already been the subject of an injunction from a German court. In December 2018, Seoul Semiconductor prevailed in patent litigation brought by Taiwanese competitor Everlight Electronics.

One month prior, in November 2018, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that Seoul Semiconductor’s patents, which were used in flat screen TVs and laptops, were valid but vacated a $4 million jury award for damages.

“Seoul Semiconductor has already warned manufacturers of global mobile phones to cease using LED products suspected of infringement. Seoul Semiconductor investigates mobile phones incorporating such products and will consider any legal enforcement necessary if such infringement continues unabated,” said the South Korean company.

Seoul Semiconductor added that, to protect its patent rights, it has already filed three patent infringement suits against distributors of suspected infringing products in Europe.

The company plans to expand its enforcement further “given the confirmation of its technology from the German courts”.

Chung Hoon Lee, founder of Seoul, said: “We hope that Seoul's success story could be a good example for young entrepreneurs and small entities who want to follow their dreams.”

Lee added that Seoul Semiconductor would continue its enforcement actions against  companies that do not respect its IP.

“We will also take all necessary actions against companies that lure our employees away in an attempt to gain unlawful access to Seoul’s trade secrets,” concluded Lee.

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More on this story

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12 July 2019   Korean LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against online retailer Conrad Electronic in a Dusseldorf court.
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29 November 2019   Seoul Semiconductor is suing US lighting company Satco Products for allegedly infringing its LED lighting patents.
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16 February 2022   A subsidiary of Seoul Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Netherlands, looking to bar the sale of allegedly copycat UV light-emitting diode products throughout Europe.