German court orders permanent injunction and recall of Everlight LED products for infringing Seoul Semiconductor patent

South Korean LED maker Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd has won a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany against Mouser Electronics, a global distributor of accused LED products – 2835 (2.8mm x 3.5mm) LED packages – manufactured by Taiwan-based Everlight Electronics Co Ltd.

The District Court of Düsseldorf issued a permanent injunction against sales of the accused Everlight products and ordered the distributor to recall such products sold after February 2017 from commercial customers. The decision was issued in the first instance.

The patented technology involved is a Multi-Wavelength Insulation Reflector technology that serves to efficiently improve light reflectivity from the internal LED structure by attaching a light reflection structure to the LED chip, which would assure durability and high efficiency of lighting (see Figure A). It has been widely applied to most cost-effective mid-power LED products, such as those used in lighting, LCD backlights, mobile phone and automotive applications, where power consumption is 0.5-3W.

In December 2018, Seoul also obtained a permanent injunction against Everlight’s high-power LED products and a recall was issued for such products sold after 13 July 2012 from commercial customers. This patented technology serves to efficiently extract light emitted from the internal LED structure by treating LED chip surfaces (Figure B), and applies to high-power LED products including UV and white LEDs involved in this litigation. Seoul won all 10 patent litigations against Everlight or its distributor in five major countries including Europe and Asia (Korea and Japan). Specifically, Everlight filed a patent invalidation action, but the patent office dismissed it and confirmed the validity of Seoul’s patents.

“To create a fair and competitive market, we will continue enforcement efforts to prevent electronics brands, manufacturers and distributors from selling products suspected of infringement,” says Seoul’s founder Chung Hoon Lee. “Only then will others, including young entrepreneurs and small businesses, have a chance to have their talents recognized in the market,” he adds. “We are preparing all legal actions against companies that have suspicions of infringing our patents or of unlawful access to our trade secrets by luring employees and will initiate such actions soon.”

See related items:

Seoul Semiconductor withdraws lawsuit after Mouser stops selling Everlight LED product in Japan

Seoul Semiconductor wins all five patent litigations against Everlight

Tags: Seoul Semiconductor LEDs

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