U.S. LED manufacturer Cree has signed a non-exclusive worldwide license agreement with China’s Hangzhou Naijing Technologies Ltd (NNCrystal US Corp.), according to reports by Semiconductor Today and Compound Semiconductor.

Both reports noted the family of licensed patents cover fundamental combination of blue LED and remote-phosphor element to produce white light, as well as manufacture, design, and placement of optical elements. This enables lighting manufacturers using NNCrystal’s remote-phosphor optical elements to manufacture LED lights without applying a separate remote-phosphor patent license from Cree. Product time-to-market can be shorted using Cree’s patented technology and by using NNCrystal’s licensed remote-phosphor optical elements to access the technology, it is estimated. 

“Licensing of Cree’s remote-phosphor patent portfolio to NNCrystal is further proof that our intellectual property strategy is working,” said George Brandes, Cree’s director of intellectual property licensing. “By providing access to Cree patents in this manner, Cree is facilitating the LED industry by providing an additional path for lighting OEMs to take in the production of high-quality, energy-efficient LED lighting.”

 “NNCrystal and our customers respect the intellectual property of others and we recognize the value of licensing this important set of patents as the LED lighting market grows,” said NNCrystal’s CTO Kai Su. “The Cree remote-phosphor patent portfolio includes patents that address main concepts of remote-phosphor-based light conversion and were originally filed by Cree more than10 years ago. The license includes rights to various patent families that are issued in many countries around the world, giving NNCrystal and our customers’ access to this important segment of Cree’s patented technology.”