With the technology shift to LEDs in full flow, the Zumtobel Group is rigorously defending its intellectual property rights. Companies that have infringed the rights of the Group or its subsidiaries are requested to respect these rights and purchase the appropriate licences. In the event that infringements of its patents and other intellectual property rights persist, the Group reserves the right to take legal action. In a recent example, Tridonic Jennersdorf GmbH filed a lawsuit at Mannheim District Court in Germany against AOC International (Europe) B.V. and AOC International (Europe) GmbH.

Together with Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. in Japan, Leuchtstoffwerk Breitungen GmbH and Litec GbR in Germany, Tridonic Jennersdorf GmbH makes up the B.O.S.E. Consortium, which owns basic patents for a technology that generates white light with blue LEDs and yellow silicate phosphors. With the authorization of the B.O.S.E. Consortium, Tridonic Jennersdorf GmbH recently filed a patent infringement lawsuit against AOC International (Europe) B.V. and AOC International (Europe) GmbH that Tridonic believes infringe the B.O.S.E. Consortium’s patent EP 1 352 431 B1.

Silicate-based white LED technology enables the manufacture of white LEDs with high accuracy and high brightness, the primary applications of which include smartphones, laptops, GPS and other displays, which means this technology is of relevance to a substantial share of today’s LED market. To make this white LED technology available to the LED industry, the B.O.S.E. Consortium offers two different licensing arrangements: a Device License for using the white LED technology, and a Material License for manufacturing and marketing the phosphors. The B.O.S.E. Consortium has concluded Device Licensing agreements for the use of the silicate-based LED patents with more than 35 LED manufacturers worldwide.

“The Zumtobel Group currently holds more than 4,000 patents and property rights and has concluded far-reaching cross-licensing agreements with other companies in the lighting industry. Given the ongoing technology shift, it is increasingly important for companies to have legal certainty in the development and application of their products. As a global player we ensure that our customers around the world enjoy the necessary certainty that the innovative lighting components, systems and solutions they apply are protected by all the necessary property rights,” explains Klaus Vamberszky, Executive Vice President Technology at the Zumtobel Group.