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Seoul Semiconductor Continuously Pursues patent infringement actions against Everlight products


    Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ 046890) — On April 28, 2017, Seoul Semiconductor Europe GmbH (“Seoul”) filed a patent infringement claim in Germany at the District Court of Düsseldorf against Mouser Electronic Inc. (“Mouser), a global electronic components distributor, which it accused of selling Everlight LED products.

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    In its complaint, Seoul asserted that Everlight’s Mid-Power LED products are infringing Seoul’s patent rights. Seoul has sought a permanent injunction, damages, and recall and destruction of the allegedly infringing products.

    The asserted patent serves to improve the light extraction performance of LED devices by enhancing internal-reflection efficiency, which has been widely used in mid-power and high-power LEDs.

    This patent litigation is the second patent infringement litigation by Seoul or its affiliate affecting Everlight’s LED products. In March 2017, Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. filed a patent infringement claim in Germany, accusing high-power LED products manufactured by Everlight as well as other LED manufacturers. These patent litigations underscore Seoul’s commitment to protecting its intellectual property rights against infringement, including products consisting of mid-power LEDs and high-power LEDs.

    In addition to Seoul’s patent infringement actions, Everlight has been implicated in other patent infringement lawsuits as described below. Nam Ki-bum, Vice President of the Research Center at Seoul, said, “Several LED companies have grown rapidly in a short period of time despite a lack of valuable patent portfolios, which is like building a castle on quicksand. There is no underlying foundation for the company’s products. Seoul, however, has been investing 10% of its revenue in research and development for many years to develop innovative technology and strengthen our patent portfolio. To support a fair market that respects intellectual property rights, Seoul will continuously monitor and take action against alleged infringers in any countries where infringement occurs.”

    * Reference [source: various media news articles]

    < Table: Recent LED industry Patent Litigations relating to Everlight products >

    Plaintiff   Defendant   Business Relation   Patented Technology   Courts   State   Link Nichia   WOFI Leuchten   Everlight subsidiary   phosphor   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   Nichia won the suit in the court of first instance and the court ruled for an injunction  

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2016/12
    /nichia_clinches_two_legal_victories_ag
    ainst_everlight_in_german_district_court
    s

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia/2
    016/2016_122102.html

    Nichia   REGO-Lighting   Used a white LED tube light product by Everlight subsidiary Zenar   phosphor   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   On Dec. 5, 2016, the appeals court confirmed patent infringement and ruled in favor of Nichia.  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia/2
    016/2016_122101.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2016/12/
    nichia_clinches_two_legal_victories_aga
    inst_everlight_in_german_district_courts

    Nichia   Everlight   Everlight   phosphor   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   On Oct. 24, 2016, the court granted a preliminary injunction.  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia/2
    016/2016_111701.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2016/11/
    german_court_grants_nichia_preliminary
    _injunctions_for_white_led_products_that
    _infringed_patents

    Nichia   Tachibana Eletech and E&E Japan   Distributor of blue LEDs manufactured by Everlight in Japan   LED chip   Tokyo District Court, Japan   On Oct. 14, 2016, the court issued an oder ruled for an infringement in favor of Nichia.  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia/2016
    /2016_102001.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/press/2016/10/nich
    ia_wins_patent_infringement_lawsuit_agains
    t_tachibana_and_ee_japan_in_tokyo

    Nichia   Mouser   Distributor of Everlight products   phosphor   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   On Oct. 7, 2016, the court granted a preliminary injunction.  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia/2
    016/2016_101301.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2016/10/g
    erman_court_grants_preliminary_injunctio
    n_against_mouser_based_on_nichia_yag
    _patent

    Nichia   Everlight   Everlight   LED Package   The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas   The Federal Circuit affirmed an infringement of Nichia’s patents.  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia/20
    17/2017_050901.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2017/5/nic
    hia_wins_important_victory_in_federal_ci
    rcuit_appeal

    Nichia   EBV Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG and EBV Management GmbH (both “EBV“)   Distributor of Everlight products   phosphor   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   Still in progress  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia
    /2017/2017_030802.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/press/2017/3/nichia

    _files_patent_infringement_lawsuit_against_

    ebv_in_germany_regarding_white_led_

    product_of_everlight

    Nichia   Everlight Electronics (China) and Beijing Ducheng Yiguang Electronic Devices Selling Center   Everlight subsidiary   phosphor   Beijing Intellectual Property Court, China   Still in progress  

    http://www.nichia.co.jp/en/about_nichia
    /2016/2016_032401.html

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2016/3/
    nichia_files_new_led_patent_infringem
    ent_lawsuits_respectively_in_china_an
    d_us

    Seoul Semiconductor   Mouser   Distributor of Everlight products   High Power LED   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   Still in progress  

    http://www.ledinside.com/news/2017/4/se
    oul_semiconductor_files_patent_infringe
    ment_lawsuit_in_germany

    Seoul Semiconductor   Mouser   Distributor of Everlight products   Mid Power LED   Düsseldorf District Court, Germany   On April 28, 2017, Seoul filed the lawsuit.                              

    About Seoul Semiconductor:

    Seoul Semiconductor develops and commercializes light emitting diodes (LEDs) for automotive, general illumination, specialty lighting, and backlighting markets. As the fifth-largest LED manufacturer globally, Seoul Semiconductor holds more than 12,000 patents, offers a wide range of technologies, and mass produces innovative LED products such as Wicop – a simpler structured Package-Free LED which provides market leading color uniformity, cost savings at the fixture level with high lumen density and allows design flexibility; Acrich, the world´s leading direct AC LED; Acrich MJT multi-junction technology; a proprietary family of high-voltage LEDs; NanoDriver Series – World’s Smallest 24W DC LED Drivers and nPola, a new LED product based on GaN-substrate technology that achieves over ten times the output of conventional LEDs.

    For more information about Seoul Semiconductor, please visit http://www.seoulsemicon.com

    # Trademarks: Wicop and Acrich are trademarks of Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd.

     

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