Taiwanese LED manufacturer PlayNitride held a press conference recently at Grand Hyatt Taipei to respond to Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) allegations of selling trade secrets. The following content are an excerpt of the media conference.

Q: Is it true that your company founder Yun-Li Lee encouraged GPI to form a investment partnership with San’an Opto to construct a new factory?

A: That is not true. All of Lee’s contact with San’an Opto were authorized by GPI’s management team, while all communications were under GPI guidance. PlayNitride has provided all evidence to the investigation team for further investigation.

Q: According to media reports, did Lee steal and leak GPI epitaxy technology to San’an Opto?

A: That is not true. Lee did not steal the technology and provide it to San’an Opto. Throughout the period when Lee was employed by GPI, the company has been providing samples to its potential clients for inspection, and San’an Opto was not an exceptional case.

Q: According to media reports, is it true that San’an Opto invested in PlayNitride?

A: That is not true.

The media reported that San’an Opto invested US $2.3 million in PlayNitride and that is false. PlayNitride did not accept any funds from San’an Opto. Formosa Epitaxy (Forepi), a listed Taiwanese company is one of our investors. PlayNitride does not have any Chinese investor.

On the contrary, all the company investors are well known Taiwanese companies that are capable of investing in startups equipped with innovative technology and R&D capacity. PlayNitride is supported by these investors owing to its great R&D potential.

Q: Media reports claim inspections conducted by National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) concluded that the structure of San’an Opto’s product is similar to that of GPI’s, it is thought the Chinese company used GPI chip data and design structure as reference? Is it true that San’an Opto had access to GPI’s product?

A: We don’t know how the professors in NCTU completed the inspection and the content of their report, but Lee has never provided any trade secret or information from GPI to San’an Opto.

Q: Has PlayNitride stole the know- how of GPI and sold it to San’an Opto?

A: That is absolutely not true, and is a false accusation.

Q: Some media reports pointed out the share price of GPI dropped from approximately NT $109 (US $3.25) per share since former CTO Lee and several other engineers resigned. Was that the direct cause?

A: The fluctuation of share price is not determined by a single incident. Moreover, that is not true either. The share price of GPI rose when Lee left GPI, please refer to the powerpoint for more details.

PlayNitride was founded by Yun-Li Lee in Tainan, south of Taiwan in 2014. The company’s major shareholders include two major Taiwanese companies, and has been planning to launch an IPO in the U.S. in the future. PlayNitride has forged partnerships with U.S.  companies in industrial UV LED curing machines and is in-house developing its laser LED and laser automotive headlamp modules. The company has hoped to keep R&D resources in Taiwan by constructing offices in both northern and southern Taiwan.

Future developments should be observed. And LEDinside will continue following up future market developments.

(Translator: Emma Chang, Translator, LEDinsidehttp:// Editor: Judy Lin, Chief Editor, LEDinside)