San'an Optoelectronics announced that it  licensed the U.S. LED patents it recently acquired from a major Japanese company to its subsidiary, Luminus Devices.

The total patent portfolio from the Japanese company comprises over 125 issued patents including over 30 U.S. patents as well as issued patents in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Germany.  The earliest patents in the portfolio have priority dates reaching back to the mid-1990s, and more recent patents are from the mid-2000s.  These patents in the acquired portfolio are directed to a range of fundamental LED chip and wafer level technology, such as p-type branch electrodes (for example U.S. Patent Nos. 6,881,985 and 6,384,430), transparent ZnO layers, and reflecting electrodes, barrier layers (U.S. Patent No. 6,265,732), spacer layers, doped active layers (U.S. Patent No. 6,081,540), optimized MQWs (U.S. Patent No. 6,501,101), direct-bonded substrates, and GaInP current spreading layers.

According to San'an President Zhiqiang Lin, "We were quite pleased to acquire this well-respected LED patent portfolio as it complements the San'an patent portfolio nicely in time and subject matter and increases the San'an patent holdings to over 280 issued patents and published applications.  San'an recognizes the importance of a strong patent portfolio in the LED industry and we are committed to growing our patent base organically and by strategic acquisition."

The license of the United States patents to Luminus Devices is exclusive, subject to prior issued licenses, with the right to enforce.  "The addition of the licensed patents to our existing patent portfolio further reinforces the position of Luminus Devices in the LED market," said Decai Sun, the chief executive officer of Luminus Devices.  Luminus Devices has over eighty patents worldwide including fifty United States patents and is the exclusive licensee of key patents related to laser lift-off and patterned sapphire substrates.