Seoul Semiconductor Files Complaints Against Nichia With ITC

Dec 6, 2007 20:02 Tetsuo Nozawa, Nikkei Electronics

Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd of Korea announced Dec 5, 2007, that it had filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) claiming Nichia Corp had infringed on Seoul Semiconductor's "US Patent 5,321,713" as of Dec 4.

The US Patent 5,321,713 concerns a technology to manufacture laser devices using AlGaN crystals formed primarily on sapphire substrates. Seoul Semiconductor insists that Nichia's GaN laser diode products infringe on this patent and the importation and sales of these products in the US are unfair trade practices.

Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor have been suing each other over white LEDs since Jan 2006.

Seoul Semiconductor said, as well as the "US Patent 146,465," the US Patent 5,321,713 is the legal grounds for its another lawsuit against Nichia for patent infringement, which was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in July 2007. This time, the company filed a complaint with the ITC alleging Nichia's infringement on the US Patent 5,321,713 alone.

Seoul Semiconductor also sued Nichia alleging infringement on its "US Patent 5,075,742" in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Nov 6, 2007.

Regarding these complaints, Nichia insisted, "Those patents in question are not technologies originally developed by Seoul Semiconductor but instead are the patents that Seoul Semiconductor purchased from third parties," "The transfer (of the US Patent 5,075,742) was registered Nov 6, the very date that Seoul Semiconductor filed the lawsuit against Nichia," and "We believe that no Nichia products infringe on any of those patents in suit and the patents should be invalid for multiple grounds."

Seoul Semiconductor, on the other hand, said, "We have invested to obtain numerous patents (including these US Patents in suit) to complement our patent portfolio," and admitted the fact of its purchasing patents from third parties. Seoul, however, denied a view that it purchased the patents primarily to attack Nichia.

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