Seoul Semiconductor has announced that on September 17, 2007 Nichia Corporation filed a lawsuit in the Seoul Central District Court against Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (Seoul Semiconductor). The suit alleges that Seoul Semiconductor's blue chips for white LED products (part no. TWH104-HS), which Seoul Semiconductor produces and sells, infringe on Nichia's Korean patent (no. 406201). Nichia seeks damages for past infringement as well as an injunction against any further infringing activity. Seoul Semiconductor received the complaint from Nichia on Oct 1, 2007 and following its investigation, responds it is clear that Seoul Semiconductor has not infringed on the patent (no. 406201). Seoul Semiconductor has patent technologies as below and has not infringed on the patent above.
Over the years, Seoul Semiconductor has made significant investments in research and development, and has filed and registered more than 1,200 patents technologies on its own. Seoul Semiconductor produces and sells products based on its own patent technologies, as well as from patent technologies it licenses from universities, institutes, and companies including the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Solid State Light Display Center in the US, and Nitride Semiconductor in Japan. In addition, Seoul Semiconductor has entered cross-licensing and strategic cooperation agreements with LED-chip producers including Cree Inc. in the US, OSRAM GmbH in Germany, and Toyoda Gosei in Japan.
Seoul Semiconductor also announced its strong response to a lawsuit filed by Nichia Corporate against the company in Seoul Central District Court today. The suit alleges that Seoul Semiconductor's blue chips for Z-Power LED P9 Series white LED products infringe on Nichia's Korean patent (no. 491482). Nichia seeks damages for past infringement as well as an injunction against any further infringing activity.
Reiterating an earlier announcement on May 18, 2007, Seoul Semiconductor responds that only a small amount (US$2,000 worth in 2007) of its Z-Power LED P9 was produced and sold in Korea using blue chips manufactured by the Boise, Idaho-based SemiLEDs Corporation. This occurred before Seoul Semiconductor started using blue chips from Cree in its P9 LEDs. SemiLEDs Corp. is proceeding with the P9 lawsuit in Japan where it is represented by Ohno & Partners. Seoul Semiconductor will cooperate with SemiLEDs Corp. on this lawsuit.