We spoke to Greg Merrit, VP Marketing and Public Affairs at Cree, about the IP litigation against Feit and Unity Opto. Greg confirmed that several of the ten patent violations are related to omnidirectional light distribution. In addition, Cree is suing Feit for false claims that some of Feit’s bulbs, which carry the ENERGY STAR label, fail performance requirements such as omnidirectional light distribution.
It is ironic, that the suit alleges that Feit copied a portion of IP for omnidirectional distribution, but apparently Feit did not copy it well enough to correctly meet the ENERGY STAR requirement. Remember the old adage, if you are going to copy, copy well.
Merritt explained that Cree has spent over $1 billion to invest in technology and that Cree has an obligation to it many stakeholders—including the 20 active licensees around the world. Developing….