“During the March 11, 2021 telephone conference, Ms. Weber declined to discuss a license, and requested that Signify instead speak to Menards’ suppliers. Mr. Rugh explained that it was Signify’s policy to license private label retailers directly, not suppliers.”
Late Friday, we received notice that Signify has filed a suit against Menards for selling products that infringe on Signify’s patents.
One wonders if Eric Rondolat, the CEO of Signify, ever read the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Suing huge potential customers like Menards (300+ stores) won’t be helpful when Menards decides to re-evaluate their lighting contract.
EdisonReport is not a fan of litigation as we much prefer things be settled quietly, out of the eye of the public.
The complaint lists over 60 skus that violate patents and your humble editor looked up a few.
They are what you would expect to see in a DIY store, ultra-thin downlights, disc lights, portable work lights etc. In the suit, Signify explains they are a global market leader and they list jobs like:
- San Francisco Bay Bridge
- Seattle’s CenturyLink Field
- London Bridge
- Milwaukee’s Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge
Can’t they cite applications where the luminaires in question are used? What is the obsession with bridge lighting?
The patents are ones we have seen before:
- ’399 Patent, entitled Methods and Apparatus for Providing Power to Lighting Devices
- ’554 Patent, entitled LED Power Control Methods and Apparatus
- ’643 Patent, entitled LED Power Control Methods and Apparatus
- ’604 Patent, entitled Light-Emitting Module
- ’506 Patent, entitled Recessed Cove Lighting Apparatus for Architectural Surfaces
- ’336 Patent, entitled Configurable Lighting System
In looking at the Menard’s website, we only found 1 Philips SKU listed. Sylvania (LEDVANCE) and Feit seem to presently have the majority of the Menards business—and they will likely keep it!