MaxLite has filed petitions for inter partes review (IPR) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seeking to invalidate U.S. Patent No. 9,897,265 and 9,723,662 owned by Jiaxing Super Lighting Electric Appliance, a Chinese contract manufacturer.

(Image: MaxLite)

MaxLite reported that the patents that are the subjects of these petitions are part of Jiaxing Super Lighting’s recently-announced patent licensing program for LED tube lamps. According to the petitions, these patents should never have been issued in light of prior art known at the time the applications leading to the ‘265 and ‘662 patents were filed.

In May, Jiaxing Super Lighting has filed a lawsuit against MaxLite accusing the U.S. company of infringing Super Lighting’s patents covering the ‘265 and ‘662 patents.

MaxLite indicated that its IPR petitions demonstrate that the arrangement of the mechanical and electrical components within an LED tube lamp described in the ‘265 and ‘662 patents were well known at the time Super Lighting’s applications for those patents were filed, and therefore should never have been issued by the USPTO in the first place.