Nichia announced that it has filed patent infringement lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on July 19, 2019 against Lighting Science Group (LSG), a US-based manufacturer of LED lighting products, as well as its affiliates, Health and VividGro.
In its lawsuits, Nichia has asserted 13 patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 6,838,693, 7,348,602, 7,750,337, 8,120,057, 8,309,375, 8,309,948, 8,344,402, 8,530,250, 8,728,916, 8,796,721, 9,444,011, 9,865,773 and 10,276,751) against the three entities. The patents cover various manufacturing processes for, and designs of, LED chips and packaged LED devices.
On April 30, 2019, LSG filed a proceeding before the U.S. International Trade Commission and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia asserting that Nichia products infringe three patents owned by LSG. Nichia believes that the claims asserted in the ITC and in the Georgia court are baseless, and has filed petitions for inter partes review at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging the validity of the asserted patents.