Epistar announced that it has achieved a victory in the petitions filed by Lowe’s Home Center with the United States Patent and Trademark Office which challenged the validity of five Epistar patents related to Epistar’s innovative LED filament bulb technology. The five patents are U.S. Patent No. 6,346,771, 7,560,738, 8,492,780, 8,587,020, and 8,791,467.
These five patents are the subject of a pending patent infringement lawsuit brought by Epistar against Lowe’s, filed on April 28, 2017 in the United States District Court. Lowe’s petitions intended to invalidate the five patents. However, as Epistar explained the details to the Patent Office regarding its patents' innovation, the petitions were be denied.
As a result, on November 1, 2018, the Patent Office denied institution on the petitions that challenged ’467 and ’738 patents. Then, on November 20, the Patent Office denied institution on the petitions challenging the ’771, ’780, and ’020 patents. The cases cannot be appealed.
Respect and recognition for intellectual property rights is crucial to the innovation and development of LED technology. Epistar will continue to protect the interests of its customers, strategic alliance partners and shareholder through the enforcement of its intellectual property rights.