Seoul Semiconductor loses German patent lawsuit against Everlight
It is the company’s 1st lost in patent lawsuits
Seoul Semiconductor has lost its patent lawsuit against its Taiwanese counterpart Everlight in Germany.
The German Federal Patent Court has decided to invalidate Seoul Semiconductor's Europe LED patent EP1697983, according to Everlight on Monday.
The Taiwanese company filed the patent invalidation lawsuit in March, 2018.
The patent in question relates to the structure of nitrogen-face of gallium nitride (GaN) LED. It is also registered in South Korea’s patent office.
Seoul Semiconductor have been using the patent though a licensee given by the original patent owners Japan Science and Technology Agency and the Regents of the University of California. Professor Shuji Nakamura of the University of California is one of the inventors.
Nakamura is currently a technology adviser at Seoul Semiconductor.
Seoul Semiconductor will have to now pay for the entire legal fees from the German lawsuit.
It is the South Korean company’s first lost ever in a patent lawsuit. It has won over 200 patent lawsuits in the past, with 10 of them against Everlight. The two companies having been embroiled in lawsuits in Germany, Italy, the UK and South Korea.
In August of last year, Seoul Semiconductor won a sales injunction against Everlight. The court found that Everlight’s 2835(2.8mm x 3.5mm) LED Package distributed by Mouser Electronics violated Seoul Semiconductor’s patents. The court also ordered all products sold from February 2017 to be recalled.