Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany in the District Court of Düsseldorf against global electronics distributor Mouser Electronics Inc. on March 31, 2017.
The asserted patent relates to LEDs for high-power light emission.
The lawsuit claims that Mouser distributed infringing LED products from multiple companies. Further examination of the infringing products suggests that the accused products come from several companies including Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. In the lawsuit, Seoul seeks a permanent injunction and damages as well as recall and destruction of the infringing products.
Asserted Patent
The patented technology involves treating LED chip surfaces to significantly improve the light intensity and brightness of the LED chip. According to Seoul Semiconductor, this patented technology has been widely used in various high-power LED applications, including automobile lighting, outdoor lighting, UV LED applications, and others. In addition, the high-power LED technology can also be used in LEDs for mobile phone flashlights, which require higher light intensity.
Furthermore, Seoul Semiconductor says that this high-power LED technology is widely applicable to general lighting products for industrial, commercial, and outdoor illumination applications.
The company asserts that such technology significantly improves light efficiency and increases the brightness per unit area (lumen density) obtained from the LED. Also, the company contends that the technology is also widely used in the fabrication of UV LEDs for sterilization, purification, and curing.
Mouser Lawsuit Begins Seoul’s Active Defence of IP for High-Power LEDs
This lawsuit is just the beginning, Seoul said, of its plans to actively defend its intellectual property against infringing high-power LED technologies. Seoul pointed out that it has already identified infringements of its other high-power LED-related patents and will consider additional infringement lawsuits.
Ki-bum Nam, vice president of the Lighting Business Department at Seoul Semiconductor, said, “The asserted patent is considered an essential technology for manufacturing high-power LEDs and has been widely used in various LED applications.” Nam added, “However, there are many LED products currently on the market that infringe this patented technology, so we have decided to begin enforcing our patent rights in such cases. To create a fair market competition and promote technological innovation, we continuously take any and all actions necessary to deter such infringement and protect our intellectual property.”
