Nitride Semiconductors Co., Ltd. (“Nitride”), a pioneer of ultraviolet light emitting diode (UV-LED) technology, has entered into a settlement with Digi-Key Corporation (“Digi-Key”), a global electrical components distributor.  Nitride filed the patent litigation against Digi-Key in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, asserting infringement of Nitride’s UV-LED patent.

 

Nitride is one of the earliest ground breakers in the field of UV-LEDs. With Professor Emeritus Shiro SAKAI at Tokushima University, Nitride succeeded in developing highly efficient UV-LEDs as early as 2000.  This was the first time in the world such a breakthrough in UV LED technology had been achieved.  Nitride has continued to manufacture and sell UV-LEDs thereafter, and has invested enormously in R&D to develop and enhance its UV-LED technology.

 

To protect its UV-LED patented technology, Nitride initiated its patent enforcement campaign starting in 2017.  By virtue of such efforts, a judgment was issued out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in favor of Nitride and against RayVio Corporation (“Rayvio”) in 2020, who infringed Nitride’s UV-LED patent.  That judgment was also in Nitride’s favor with respect to the validity of its patent.  The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has also confirmed the validity of the key claims of Nitride’s patent in its final judgment on an Inter Parte Review case filed by RayVio.  Further, patent lawsuits against Lite-On Technology Corporation and Crystal IS, Inc. are pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, respectively, where Nitride tries to enforce Nitride’s UV-LED patent.

Nitride considers its intellectual property rights to be vitally important company assets.  Accordingly, Nitride will take any and all action necessary to enforce its patent against infringers in any country and uphold its patents and other intellectual property rights.