According to Nichia, the company has filed patent infringement lawsuits against Harvatek and the German distributors MSC Microcomputers Systems Components Vertriebs GmbH, "Gleichmann & Co." Electronics GmbH and Glyn Jones GmbH & Co. Vertrieb von elektronischen Bauelementen KG, at the District Court Düsseldorf in Germany on March 29, 2012.
The court found with judgments of the same day that Harvatek and said distributors infringe Nichia's patent EP 936 682 (DE 697 02 929) (hereinafter called "YAG patent") concerning the accused white LED products.
The court found in respect of Harvatek Corporation that all accused products, four different white LED products (serial numbers: HT-V116TW, HT-U158TW, HT-P178 TWU-PQPS-DG and HT-T169 TW) manufactured by Harvatek, infringe claim 1 of the YAG patent, combining YAG based phosphor with GaN based blue LED. With regard to the German distributors, only the products HT-V116TW and HT-U158TW were accused and found to be infringing by the court.
The court rendered judgments, although they are not final and can be appealed by the respective losing party, in favor of Nichia's claims for permanent injunction, rendering account and damages. In the cases against the distributors, the court furthermore confirmed the recall of the accused products from their commercial customers.
Nichia believes that this judgment is of utmost importance for the white LED business in general.
