On October 4, 2022, in EPISTAR Corporation v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, the United States District Court of the Central District of California issued its post-trial decision that confirmed the jury verdict that Lowe’s Home Centers LLC (“Lowe’s”) LED filament bulbs infringed three EPISTAR patents and rejected Lowe’s arguments that challenged the validity of the EPISTAR patents.

The three EPISTAR patents were (1) U.S. Patent No. 7,560,738 (“’738 Patent”), titled “Light-Emitting Diode Array Having An Adhesive Layer,” (2) U.S. Patent No. 8,492,780 (“’780 Patent”), titled “Light-Emitting Device And Manufacturing Method Thereof,” and (3) U.S. Patent No. 6,346,771 (“’771 Patent”), titled “High Power LED Lamp.”

In its decision, the Court specifically upheld the jury finding that Lowe’s LED filament bulbs manufactured by Zhejiang Yankon Group Co., Ltd. infringed claims 1-3 and 8 of the ‘738 Patent, claims 1, 3 and 7 of the ’780 Patent and claim 38 of the ’771 Patent.

The Court post-trial decision further confirmed that each of the claims infringed by Lowe’s were valid over the prior art.

EPISTAR has invested millions of dollars in the research and development of LED technologies that led to a world-class patent portfolio consisting of over 4000 issued patents and pending patent applications. This investment has laid the foundation of LED lighting technologies that have empowered the world-class products that many consumers have come to enjoy, including the LED filament bulb at issue in this case. Innovation is extremely important to the industry and should be respected and awarded fairly to drive the evolution of technology. EPISTAR is pleased with the result and will continue its enforcement activities against those using EPISTAR’s technology without authorization.

EPISTAR is represented by the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.

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