Zumtobel of Austria and Royal Philips Electronics of The Netherlands have signed a comprehensive, worldwide, cross licensing agreement, under which TridonicAtco and Ledon, the Zumtobel Group’s OEM brands, will become qualified suppliers under the Philips LED-based luminaires licensing program, which is a part of the agreement.

The two parties, also two of the largest lighting companies in Europe, have signed the agreement for current and future patent rights in the fields of lighting electronics and solid-state lighting (SSL), with the agreement mainly covering driver and control technologies for changing intensity and color of conventional and SSL-based systems.

As a result of the agreement, the customers of TridonicAtco and Ledon will be exempted from paying royalties to Philips under the terms of its LED-based luminaires licensing program. A similar arrangement was reached between Philips and Osram in September 2008.

"We are very pleased that we have been able to further exploit the outstanding technology position of the Zumtobel Group through this comprehensive cross-licensing agreement," said Zumtobel Group CEO Andreas Ludwig.

Rudy Provoost, CEO of Philips Lighting: "LED lighting is transforming the lighting industry, enabling new and highly energy-efficient applications. By licensing our technology we are able to open up the full potential of new LED lighting solutions to companies and consumers, helping the solid-state lighting market to grow. I am therefore delighted that the Zumtobel Group supports our licensing program for solid-state lighting."