On March 24, 2020, in a patent infringement lawsuit which Nichia filed against HTC NIPPON, a Japanese affiliate of Taiwanese Company HTC and Kanematsu Communications, the distributor of HTC NIPPON, Tokyo District Court rendered a judgment, holding that defendants have infringed Nichia’s patents.

Nichia filed the patent lawsuit in 2016 claiming HTC infringed its patents. In the judgment, the court found that HTC’s smartphone (product name: HTC Desire 626) distributed by defendants were equipped with white LEDs which infringes Nichia’s patents JP5177317 and JP5610056, and ordered defendants to compensate Nichia for damages. The defendants did not appeal, and the judgment became final and binding.

Nichia has also won the patent lawsuit against HTC in Germany. In 2019, the District Court of Düsseldorf, Germany found that white LED used as flashlights in certain smartphones manufactured by HTC infringed Nichia’s YAG patent.