Axiom NZ LED of Las Vegas, Nevada and AoTuroaLED of Auckland, New Zealand announced today that the companies are offering a "Green Step Forward" program for the month of May 2010 that facilitates the worldwide effort to reduce one's Carbon Footprint. As the use of fossil fuels continues to increase globally and power prices continue to climb there are international efforts to reduce carbon emissions such as using green energy efficient technologies that use sustainable low carbon footprint approaches to manufacturing, packaging, and delivery.

The "Green Step Forward" program allows customers to receive up to 20% off the Axiom NZ white LED products for signage lighting applications replacing neon and fluorescent and 20% off its AoTuroaLED retrofit kits for fluorescent T-Bar or suspended ceiling interior light fixtures and parking garage or car park lighting fixtures. The program is valid from May 1 – May 31, and is not valid with any other coupon or incentive.

"The 'Green Step Forward' program allows customers to receive a significant discount on our high brightness and low energy LED products to either continue or to start reducing one's Carbon Footprint," stated Manuel Lynch, CEO and Director of AoTuroaLED and Axiom NZ LED. "Sometimes it isn't just the desire to want to reduce carbon emissions that drives people to make the change, it has to be assisted by an incentive that affects the pocket book as well. People like to see their decisions turn the bottom line green as well."

The companies' products are manufactured in "100% Pure" New Zealand and incorporate the use of several patented technologies.

The two companies further confirmed their commitment to help their customers maintain positive cash flow and/or "Staying in the Green". Axiom NZ LED and AoTuroaLED have their customers' best interests in mind to prevent legal issues and to help save their customers' money through offering LED technology that drastically saves money through lowered maintenance costs.

Numerous LED lighting products with inferior quality, shortened lifetime, and patent infringing technologies made in China have entered the market. These products present a tremendous risk to customers' financial responsibility to support maintenance and warranty claims as a result of shortened lifetime or inferior performance as well as providing customers legal protections against infringing a patent. Axiom NZ LED and AoTuroaLED reconfirmed that they are continuing to support the use of high reliability long-lifetime patented LED technology of Nichia LED of Japan and innovative patented weather resistant connector technology by Zeirick of New York. Nichia and Zeirick technologies are used on all Axiom NZ LED and AoTuroaLED white light products.

"It is illegal to sell, buy or even use a knock-off or imitation purse," joked Stephanie Prather, Director of AoTuroaLED Limited. "Knock-off purses are sold on street corners by people avoiding the law. Both sellers as well as buyers know it is illegal, yet they do it anyway. Most times companies are unaware the LED products they bought are cheap and usually inferior knock-offs. Axiom NZ LED and AoTuroaLED using Nichia of Japan LEDs and Zeirick connectors is akin to playing sports fair and honest. Other companies that use LED or electronic products that infringe patents are no different than the illegal practice of playing professional sports using steroids."

All of the AoTuroaLED and Axiom NZ LED white LED products use Nichia products and are protected by numerous US Patents including the one with the most extensive coverage, US Patent 5998925.

"We find it amusing that knock off technologies are claiming that Nichia LED patents are expiring—they are not," added Dane Cardone, CEO of AoTuroaLED USA. "That would be like suggesting that Microsoft's patents are expiring because they invented their software in the 1970s. They continue to enhance their intellectual property portfolio by patenting more technologies. Microsoft recently issued a license to a HTC, a Chinese/Taiwanese mobile phone company, that was infringing their patents for a product that uses a Google operating system. Nichia like Microsoft protects its intellectual property – at AoTuroaLED and Axiom NZ LED we are proud to use Nichia LEDs."