News: LEDs
26 May 2022
Nitride Semiconductors settles UV-LED patent litigation against Digi-Key
Japan’s Nitride Semiconductors Co Ltd (which was spun off from Tokushima University in 2000) has entered into a settlement with global electrical components distributor Digi-Key Corp. Nitride filed the patent litigation against Digi-Key in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota, asserting infringement of its ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) patent.
In collaboration with professor emeritus Shiro Sakai at Tokushima University, Nitride developed what it claims was the first high-efficiency UV-LED as early as 2000. It has since continued to manufacture and sell UV-LED products, and says that it has invested heavily in R&D to develop and enhance its UV-LED technology.
To protect its UV-LED patented technology, Nitride initiated its patent enforcement campaign starting in 2017. Subsequently, in 2020, a judgment was issued by the US District Court for the Northern District of California against RayVio Corp for infringing Nitride’s UV-LED patent. That judgment was also in Nitride’s favor with respect to the validity of its patent. The US Patent & Trademark Office has also confirmed the validity of the key claims of Nitride’s patent in its final judgment on an Inter Parte Review case filed by RayVio.
Further, patent lawsuits against Lite-On Technology Corp and Crystal IS Inc are pending in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas and in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, respectively, where Nitride is trying to enforce its UV-LED patent.
Nitride says that, since it considers its intellectual property rights to be vitally important company assets, it will take any action necessary to enforce its patent against infringers in any country and uphold its patents and other intellectual property rights.
Nitride wins patent license settlement from QT-Brightek
Nitride Semiconductors files complaint against Lite-On
Nitride continues enforcement against infringement of UV-LED patent
