CAO Lighting, Inc., a spinoff of the lighting division of CAO Group, Inc., received favorable decisions from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to petitions in inter parte re-exam filed by GE Lighting, Inc. and OSRAM Sylvania, Inc. Both companies sell LED lighting products that are alleged to infringe claims of CAO Lighting, Inc.’s US patent’s 6,465,961 (961 patent), 6,634,770 (770 patent) and 6,746,885 (885 patent).

Prior to the filing of these petitions, the USPTO determined that various arguments presented by GE Lighting, Inc. and OSRAM Sylvania, Inc. are invalid and their request for inter partes re-exam of the claims asserted against them lacked sufficient merit to justify their consideration in re-examination proceedings. The petitions filed by GE Lighting, Inc. and OSRAM Sylvania, Inc. appealed these determinations. The final and non-appealable rulings on the petitions affirm the validity of claim 9 of the 961 patent and claims 7, 9 and 16 of the 770 patent, indicating that there is no reasonable likelihood that any of GE Lighting, Inc. and OSRAM Sylvania, Inc.’s various challenges to the validity of these claims could succeed.

“The final ruling from the USPTO confirmed that Dr. Densen Cao established the fundamentals of building solid-state lighting sources and 360-degree light beams, and these teachings are being adapted and used by the industry today,” said Terry Jones, general counsel of CAO Lighting, Inc. “We trust that the validity of other claims challenged in these three patents will also be affirmed through the re-exam process based on the merit of innovation at the time.”

Accordingly, these claims are presumed to be valid and challenges to these claims will not be considered in the inter partes re-exam process initiated by GE Lighting, Inc. and OSRAM Sylvania, Inc. Other claims in the 961 patent, the 770 patent and the 885 patent are under review in re-exam proceedings.

Through the years, CAO Group’s lighting division has established a reputation of innovation in LED light sources, including a revolutionary 360-degree light beam. The LuxemBright® and Dynasty® LED products from CAO Lighting, distributed across North America, offer unique features that can be applied to various signage and lighting applications.