ANSAN, South Korea — Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. announced that it won a patent infringement lawsuit against Mouser Electronics, a global distributor of certain accused LED products, in Germany. The accused LED product – 2835 (2.8×3.5mm) LED Package was manufactured by Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. (“Everlight”).
The District Court of Düsseldorf in Germany issued a permanent injunction against the sales of the accused Everlight products and ordered the distributor to recall such products sold after February 2017 from commercial customers. The decision was issued in the first instance.
The patented technology involved in this litigation is a Multi-Wavelength Insulation Reflector technology that serves to efficiently improve light reflectivity from the internal LED structure by attaching a light reflection structure to the LED chip, which would assure durability and high efficiency of lighting significantly [Figure A]. It has been widely applied to most cost-effective mid-power LED products, such as those used in lighting, LCD backlight, mobile phone and automotive applications, where power consumption is 0.5W to 3W (watt). The 2835 (2.8×3.5mm), 3030 (3.0×3.0mm) and 5630 (5.6×3.0mm) LED packages are universal products in the industry.
LED technology has evolved from 1st generation to 2nd generation based on continuous innovation. This, a majority of LED products use 2nd generation technology to improve reliability and efficiency. Therefore, this type of technology has become more critical.
In December 2018, Seoul also obtained permanent injunction against Everlight high power LED product and a recall was issued for such products sold after July 13, 2012 from commercial customers. This patented technology serves to efficiently extract light emitted from the internal LED structure by treating LED chip surfaces [Figure B], and applies to high-power LED products, including UV and white LEDs involved in this litigation. Therefore, Seoul won all 10 patent litigations against Everlight or its distributor in five major countries including Europe and Asia – Korea and Japan. Specifically, Everlight filed a patent invalidation action, but the patent office dismissed it and confirmed the validity of Seoul’s patents.
“In order to create a fair and competitive market, we will continue enforcement efforts to prevent electronics brands, manufacturers and distributors from selling products suspected of infringement. Only then will others, including young entrepreneurs and small businesses, have a chance to have their talents recognized in the market,” said Chung Hoon Lee, founder of Seoul. “We are preparing all legal actions against companies that have suspicions of infringing our patents or of unlawful access to our trade secrets by luring employees and will initiate such actions soon,” added Lee.
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