Patent Appeals Court Confirms Invalidation of Philips LED Patent by WAC Lighting

WAC Lighting and its attorneys at Radulescu LLP have scored another victory in the long running battle against Philips Lighting.  This week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the special appeals court that hears all patent appeals from around the country) issued a decision affirming the Patent Office’s invalidation of key claims of Philips Lighting’s U.S. Patent No. 6,013,988.  The Federal Circuit agreed with WAC Lighting and Radulescu LLP that although the specific patented circuit design could not be found in the prior art, Philips Lighting had nevertheless patented a trivial variation of well-known designs that solve the same problem in the same basic way.  The Federal Circuit confirmed that Philips Lighting was not entitled to patent what ultimately amounted to swapping the order of two basic circuit elements in an LED driver circuit.  Philips Lighting had asserted the ‘988 Patent in several earlier litigations, but this was the first time a party was successful in defeating it.

David Radulescu, Ph.D., founding partner of Radulescu LLP, will provide an update regarding IP litigation and the state of play in Washington’s Tariff War with China as it relates to the lighting industry on Wednesday, 9 MAY at the Chicago Marriott Marquis at 8 a.m.  If you are interested in attending this free meeting, a limited number of seats are still available.  To reserve, send an email to:  mailto:[email protected]