MOCVD equipment is essential to LED production, and graphite wafer carrier is a unique component of MOCVD systems. Due to technology barriers, currently there are only three graphite wafer suppliers globally: German’s SGL Group, Japan’s TOYO TANSO and Dutch company Xycarb.

Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) announces that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a district court decision holding that Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and Everlight Americas, Inc. (collectively, “Everlight”) have infringed three Nichia patents.

EVERLIGHT Electronics Co., Ltd. on April 25, 2017 filed its complaints with Tokyo District Court against Nichia Corporation, Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd. and Daiko Electronics Co., Ltd. for patent infringement.

Epistar Corporation, a leading innovator and manufacturer of LED solid-state lighting technologies, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC (collectively “Lowe’s”) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on April 28, 2017. The complaint asserts that Kichler Lighting’s LED filament bulbs and Utilitech’s LED bulbs sold by Lowe’s infringe several Epistar patents and seeks injunctive relief to halt further sale of the infringing products.

On March 31, 2017, Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd (“Seoul”) filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany in the District Court of Düsseldorf against Mouser Electronics Inc. (“Mouser”), a global electronic components distributor, asserting infringement of an LED patent.

A Xiamen-based Chinese technology company (厦门市钛科创科技有限公司) has alerted LED manufacturers of a U.S. LED T8 tube light patent that companies should avoid infringing on in its LED patent thread on social platform WeChat.

Korean LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor has filed a lawsuit against Kmart, claiming the American retail franchise was selling LED products that violated its patents, reported The Korea Herald.

On Jan. 26, 2016, Harvatek announced it has entrusted Devlin Law Firm LLC to represent it in a patent infringement case against Cree that has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California . The patent in suit is US 6,841,934.

A small Chinese LED manufacturer Zhongshan Sover Lighting Company (Sover) patent infringement plaintiff filed against four leading industry players in China has been compared to as the battle between an ant and the elephant, according to Chinese-language media www.jiajui.com.

Liown Electronics, one of the world's largest suppliers of LED flameless candles and lighting, announced that it has filed a patent infringement claim against nine (9) defendants for infringing on Liown's U.S. Patent No. 8,926,137, which issued on January 6 and covers Liown's flameless candle technology, Moving Flame TM.  Liown has also asserted that these nine (9) companies infringe its U.S. Patent No. 8,789,986.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Unity Opto Technology (Unity Opto) is planning to retaliate against Cree’s recent patent infringement lawsuit, according to a Money DJ report.

Cree has filed complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin against Feit Electric Company, Inc. and its Asian supplier, Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd., to curb infringement on Cree’s patented technologies and to address Feit’s false and misleading advertising claims that certain of its products meet ENERGY STAR® specifications. The suits allege infringement of 10 patents related to LED lighting.

With the technology shift to LEDs in full flow, the Zumtobel Group is rigorously defending its intellectual property rights. Companies that have infringed the rights of the Group or its subsidiaries are requested to respect these rights and purchase the appropriate licences. In the event that infringements of its patents and other intellectual property rights persist, the Group reserves the right to take legal action. In a recent example, Tridonic Jennersdorf GmbH filed a lawsuit at Mannheim District Court in Germany against AOC International (Europe) B.V. and AOC International (Europe) GmbH.

Dow Corning’s LED Optical Silicon Encapsulant patent 200480028707.8 in a patent dispute with KMT Technology (KMT) has been ruled invalid by China’s State Intellectual Property Office Patent Reexamination Board on Dec. 17, 2014, according to KMT official website.

GE Lighting today announced the resolution of a patent infringement lawsuit filed in February 2012 against AgiLight, Inc.

Dow Corning’s Chinese subsidy has recently filed an organosilicone patent infringement case in Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court against Beijing KMT Technology, according to a Chinese language OFweek report. In the complaint, Beijing KMT Technology was accused of selling Dow Corning’s patented organosilicone products as its own.

The ongoing patent lawsuit between Taiwanese LED packaging manufacturer Everlight and Japanese LED manufacturer Nichia heats up. The two companies have filed lawsuits in Japan, Taiwan, Germany, the U.S. and China. General Manager of Legal Affairs and Intellectual Properties at Nichia, Katsuyuki Akutagawa attended a press conference in Taiwan on September 13th. He stated that Nichia will no longer be passive during this dispute but fight back against Everlight’s patent infringement.

Fallon Luminous Products Corp., a leading manufacturer of lighted signs, announced that yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. overturned the earlier decision of the District Court in Cookeville, Tennessee, and ruled in favor of Fallon in its appeal of a patent infringement suit brought against Fallon by iLight Technologies. The Court vacated both the monetary judgment and the injunction that had been entered against Fallon by the District Court.

It’s reported that Taiwan-based LED chipmaker Epistar has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against competitor Huga Optotech, seeking NT$200 million. Epistar filed the lawsuit with Taiwan's intellectual property court, claiming that Huga's blue and green LED products infringe on its patent.