Tridonic, a leading global provider of smart and efficient lighting solutions, is opening a new office in Highland, New York to serve the North American market with smart solutions also for IoT applications. 

On Dec. 27, 2016, Nichia Corporation ("Nichia") filed four patent infringement lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The defendants in the lawsuits are (1) TTE Technology, a US-based LCD TV distributor, and its parent company, TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Limited, a Chinese manufacturer of LCD TVs; (2) VIZIO, a US-based LCD TV maker; (3) Lowe’s Home Center LLC (“Lowe’s”), a US-based retailer of LED lighting and other products, and Lowe’s affiliated U.S. distributor, L G Sourcing, Inc.; and (4) Feit Electric Company, Inc., a US-based LED lighting manufacturer and distributor. In these lawsuits, Nichia asserts that defendants have infringed Nichia’s U.S. Patent No. 9,490,411. Nichia seeks an injunction prohibiting the defendants’ sale and distribution of infringing products. Nichia also seeks damages for defendants’ infringement.

Apple is asking some of its key iPhone suppliers including Foxconn and Pegatron to shift production to U.S. following President Donald Trump’s policies promoting “made in America,” reported Nikkei Asian Review.

The City Energy Project, a joint effort of the Institute for Market Transformation and Natural Resources Defense Council, announced the addition of ten communities that have committed to reducing energy waste in buildings.

Situated in Connecticut, U.S, and home to a population of 60,000 people, Meriden will be replacing its sodium bulb streetlights with LEDs through a citywide upgrade, reported myrecordjournal.

Quantel Laser announced the appointment of Dr. Steve Patterson as CEO of their Quantel U.S. subsidiary. A nine-year US Army veteran with service in the 1st Ranger Bn., Steve comes to Quantel after successfully leading DILAS Diode Laser’s US office through rapid growth and market expansion. Prior to DILAS, Dr. Patterson held technical and management positions at nLight Photonics and Sharp and has been involved in several technology start-ups. Dr. Patterson holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has authored numerous technical papers and has two patents to his name.

Chinese investor Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) was supposed to have sealed deal between German semiconductor equipment manufacturers Aixtron on Oct. 6, 2016, but was abruptly called off by the German Economic Ministry this Monday over unspecified national security issues.

Epistar, a leading innovator and manufacturer of LED solid-state lighting technologies, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Adamax Inc.(d/b/a Newhouse Lighting) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on August 30, 2016. The complaint asserts that Newhouse Lighting products and technology infringe six Epistar patents and seeks injunctive relief to halt the further sale of the infringing Newhouse Lighting products.

More than 90 historic buildings and landmarks across the United States  and  Canada  will be illuminated in the colors of Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) during the week leading up to the fifth biennial SU2C "roadblock" telecast airing in both countries on Friday, Sept. 9 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT / 7:00 PM CT). All will be lit in a combination of SU2C's signature colors: red, orange, yellow or white. 

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) announced that ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C81 revised ANSI C81.61-2016 American National Standard for Electric Lamp Bases—Specifications for Bases (Caps) for Electric Lamps. This standard sets forth the specifications for bases (caps) used on electric lamps. This revision includes specifications for the G8 base.

Viribright Lighting announced that is has received a US Patent (US 9,379,300) for the design of an LED chip welded in a flip-chip manner on a floating copper heat radiation support. The Viribright LED packaging design generates more lumens per watt with better control of heat dissipation than previous LED manufacturing methods.

The eighth annual SYLVANIA Socket Survey, a nationwide measure of public attitudes about energy-efficient lighting and awareness of lighting trends, was released today by LEDVANCE. The industry-benchmark survey found lighting to be one of the top forms of smart technology Americans own, with a 40% increase since 2015. The results also showed more than 60% of Americans believe smart lighting fits their lifestyle, and 55% confirmed they’re likely to purchase smart lighting when they need new bulbs. 

EVERLIGHT filed a declaratory judgment action against Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) for invalidity and non-infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,998,925 and 7,531,960 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Michigan in 2012. These two patents are directed to YAG phosphor being used in LEDs and phosphor concentration. The court on January 19, 2016 denied Nichia’s motions and confirmed the April 22, 2015 jury verdict that all asserted claims of Nichia’s patents were invalid. In addition to the U.S. court ruling, from 2014, EVERLIGHT has continued to receive favorable rulings in Japan and Germany that Nichia’s patents are invalid. 

Hopkinton, a town in Connecticut, U.S. discussed last week at a workshop enacting zoning ordinances to regulate commercial LED signs and solar energy projects, reported The Westerly Sun.

Today, the U.S. Senate passed the Energy Policy Modernization Act by a vote of 85-12. This vote comes four months after a December 3, 2015, vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on its comprehensive energy legislation, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act.

In this blog entry by Patricia Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, she takes a look at the Public Art Challenge that Baltimore, the capital of Maryland in U.S. has taken on.

Olaf Berlien, CEO of OSRAM Licht AG, and Grant Wright, CEO and CFO of OSRAM Americas, unveiled the new OSRAM Americas headquarters at a ribbon cutting ceremony recently in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Ashland, a city located in Oregon. U.S. has replaced some 33,670 decorative incandescent lights with LEDs in the city hall during this Christmas season, reported Ashland Daily Tidings.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in conjunction with Canada have recalled more than 1.62 million fluorescent lights made by Cooper Lighting over fire safety hazards.

Released today, the seventh annual Socket Survey from North American lighting leader OSRAM SYLVANIA found 65 percent of Americans surveyed have purchased LEDs for use in their homes and the majority (64 percent) of those who did, purchased LED bulbs for use in sockets for general illumination. Of the respondents who were identified as LED bulb users, the most valued benefits of making the switch were reduced energy consumption (96%), longer bulb lifespan (93%) and cost savings (93%).

With the rapid development of global economy, energy and environment has become one hot topic discussed by us. So far, energy and environment problem has been one of the important factors that retrained economic development. Under such circumstances, many countries have launched key lighting projects and in addition carried out RELEVANT incentives and rebates program. As the 4th generation light source, LED is characterized by energy-efficiency and eco-greenness. LED incentives and rebates programs have risen around the world. Here bellow is the introduction to LED incentives and rebates in some major countries.

Global 40W replacement LED bulbs Average Sales Price (ASP) dropped 1.0% in April 2015 to US $11.8, according to LEDinside’s latest LED bulb retail price survey.

Europe and Asia have been driving advanced automotive LED lighting developments, while the technology has been slow to pick up in the U.S., due to more stringent legal requirements, reported New York Times.

Effective start 2015, Jes Munk Hansen is heading OSRAM’s Classic Lamps & Ballasts (CLB) business unit, taking on this assignment alongside his duties as CEO of the Region Americas.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), on behalf of its Lighting Systems Division, published a brief white paper on considerations U.S. federal, state, and local governments should have in mind when setting requirements for procurement of energy-efficient lighting systems. Specifically, the paper summarizes issues surrounding requirements that governments may set on the manufacturing location of final products or any product component.  

NEMA’s Lighting Systems Index increased 1.9 percent from the second to the third quarters of 2014, climbing to its highest level to date in calendar year 2014.  The index posted a gain of 4.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. Shipments of emergency lighting, fixtures, and miniature lamps improved during the quarter; however, ballast and large lamp shipments fell.

Cree’s act of filing lawsuits against Feit Electric and Unity Opto recently shows the firm’s struggle to maintain dominance in U.S. LED lighting market amid growing popularity of LED lighting products, according to a Bloomberg report.

The holiday season is a time when many homes feature a sparkling Christmas tree decked with ornaments filled underneath with presents and more decorations.

Honolulu and the Canadian city of Calgary are reported to replace sodium-vapor streetlights with energy saving LEDs, according to a news report by HNGN.

Massachusetts plans to upgrade one-third of its streetlight around the state to LED lights, according to an AP report.