ANSAN, South Korea (SEPTEMBER 20, 2018) — Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ:046890) (collectively with Seoul Viosys Co., Ltd., “Seoul”), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, announced that the U.S. Federal District Court for Nevada has issued a judgment in favor of Seoul against Philcor T.V. & Electronic Leasing, Inc. – dba energyavenue.com (“Philcor”), a company that sells LED lighting products.
Previously, Seoul filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Nevada District Court against Philcor asserting infringement of eight LED patents.
In the lawsuit, Philcor acknowledged that LED products used in the accused products were manufactured by several third party suppliers and, although previously unknown to Philcor, the company did not dispute that those products infringed Seoul Semiconductor’s patents. Philcor also did not dispute the validity of Seoul Semiconductor’s patents and agreed to pay past damages, as well as a license fee, in order to affirm its commitment to respecting the intellectual property of patents in technologies for high-voltage operation (Acrich Driver), Acrich MJT (multi-junction technology; over-6V high power chip), filament LED bulb structure, LED packaging, LED epitaxial growth, and LED chip fabrication.
Other enforcement actions planned against LED lighting retailers
Seoul is continuing a series of enforcement actions to prevent distribution of suspected infringing products in the LED lighting market.
On March 2, Seoul filed a patent litigation for infringement of 10 LED patents in the Texas Northern District federal court against Service Lighting Electrical Supplies, Inc. – the operator of America’s largest online retail channel for LED bulbs: 1000bulbs.com.
On May 8, Seoul initiated a patent infringement lawsuit for infringement of eight LED patents in the California Central District federal court against Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., an American chain of big-box retail stores with 1,550 stores. In the complaint, the accused products include various LED bulbs supplied by Feit Electric.
At the end of August, Seoul also filed a patent infringement lawsuit involving 15 LED patents in the Texas Eastern District federal court against Fry’s Electronics, a retail company of consumer electronics. The retailer is accused of selling TVs that contain products that infringe on Seoul’s patented UCD technology (KSF), which enables significant improvement of the color gamut of LCD displays used in TVs and smartphones, as well as products that infringe on Seoul’s optical lens technology.
In furtherance of its enforcement campaign, Seoul has also delivered notices to manufacturers of various LED lighting products, as well as their distributors, where it suspects infringement of its patents. Seoul has warned these companies that they need to stop using LEDs and any other components that may infringe upon Seoul’s patented technology.
Dr. Nam Ki-bum, executive vice president of the Lighting Department at Seoul, said, “In order to create fair competition in the market and make sure that intellectual property rights are respected, manufacturers as well as distributors should take active precautionary measures not to manufacture or sell infringing products.” Dr. Nam added, “We will do our best to encourage a fair-competition environment, in which young entrepreneurs and small entities can succeed in the business world, relying on fair competition in the market and respecting hard-earned patented technology. This is one of the most valuable things Seoul Semiconductor is pursuing.”
About Seoul Semiconductor
Seoul Semiconductor develops and commercializes LEDs for automotive, general illumination, specialty lighting, and backlighting markets. As the fourth-largest LED manufacturer globally, Seoul Semiconductor holds more than 12,000 patents, offers a wide range of technologies, and products such as SunLike – delivering the world’s best light quality in a next-generation LED enabling human-centric lighting optimized for circadian rhythms; WICOP – a simpler structured package-free LED which provides market leading color uniformity and cost savings at the fixture level, providing high lumen density and design flexibility; NanoDriver Series – the world’s smallest 24W DC LED drivers; Acrich, the world’s first high-voltage AC-driven LED technology developed in 2005, including all AC LED-related technologies from chip to module and circuit fabrication, as well as multi-junction technology (MJT); and nPola, a new LED product based on GaN-substrate technology that achieves more than ten times the output of conventional LEDs. UCD constitutes a high color gamut display which delivers more than 90% NTSC.
To learn more, visit www.seoulsemicon.com.
Contacts:
Seoul Semiconductor Inc.
North America
Andrew Smith
Tel: +1 (901) 831-6614
Email: [email protected]
Asia and Europe
Jeonghee Kim
Tel: +82-70-4391-8555
Email: [email protected]