Nichia announced that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has issued a decision holding that Everlight Electronics and Everlight Americas (collectively, “Everlight”) have infringed three Nichia patents. The court upheld patent infringement claims that Nichia filed against Everlight in 2013.

The sluggish global economy triggered the downtrend in the LED industry in 2015, and next year is expected to be just as challenging for manufacturers in the backlight and general lighting market, said Katsuyuki Akutagawa, Chief Legal & IP Officer and Company Board Director of Nichia (the company) at a press conference held in Mandarin Oriental Taipei, earlier Wednesday. 

Everlight claims Nichia’s recent press release about its lawsuit against its German subsidiary WOFI was taken out of context, especially regarding the YAG patent lawsuit rulings.

On August 31, 2015, Nichia Corporation ("Nichia") filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany at the District Court Düsseldorf against the Germany-based manufacturer of residential lighting products WOFI Leuchten Wortmann & Filz GmbH ("WOFI").

Recent patent disputes between Japanese LED manufacturer Nichia and Taiwanese counterpart Everlight has raged on, with new disputes every now and then. Will the two sides ever reach a settlement? And how will these patent issues affect the LED industry as a whole? Below is LEDinside’s observation and analyses.

A further new white LED patent which covers, among others, YAG phosphors has been granted by the European Patent Office in favor of Nichia Corporation ("Nichia"), namely EP 2 276 080.

In response to Nichia Corporation’s press release posted on July 16, 2015, Everlight clarifies that all claims of Nichia’s EP 936682 (DE 69702929) patent have been declared invalid by the German Federal Patent Court. The infringement action on this patent has been stayed by the German Düsseldorf appellate court. 

A new white LED patent which covers, among others, YAG phosphors has been granted by the European Patent Office in favor of Nichia Corporation ("Nichia"), namely EP 2 197 053.

Upon the request of Nichia Corporation ("Nichia"), the Munich District Court granted a preliminary injunction dated 25 June 2015 in the case 21 O 10999/15. In this decision, Mr. Bernd Kammerer and Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. are, on penalty of an administrative fine of up to EUR 250,000 (US $ 275,169), prohibited from making in business transactions for purposes of competition the following statements as made by Kammerer in a press interview published on //www.elektroniknet.de/optoelektronik/ledlighting/artikel/120231/:

According to its 2015 Chinese LED Industry Market Report, LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, finds the scale of the Chinese LED package market for 2014 reached US$8.6 billion and grew by 19% annually. The general lighting market has been the main driving force, and the rising market penetration rates of commercial and residential LED lighting products has been fueling China’s growing demands. On the other hand, demand in the medium- and large-size LED backlight sectors have fallen due to technological advances that has reduced LED usage. The downturn in medium- and large-size LED backlight sectors has also been attributed to the LED TV’s easing demand growth. 

After winning the elections last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to invest in the country’s electricity, rail and other infrastructures to improve India’s economic performance, reported Chinese media Cali-Light.com.

Although, Nichia might be losing ground in its recent patent infringement case against Everlight in Eastern Michigan Courts, the company announced winning two separate patent lawsuits including a joint lawsuit filed by Taiwanese rival Everlight and Emcore. The company has also been dismissed by Northern California Courts as in the patent infringement lawsuit filed by non-practicing entities (NPE) Bluestone Innovation. The full press releases can be found below:

On April 22, 2015, a jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held two of Nichia’s patents invalid. The litigation is captioned Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and Emcore Corp. v. Nichia Corp. and Nichia America Corp., Case No. 4:12-cv-11758 GAD-MKM (E.D. Mich.). The two Nichia patents are U.S. Patents Nos. 5,998,925 and 7,531,960.

 In April 2012, Everlight  filed for declaratory judgment of invalidity and non-infringement of Nichia’s U.S. patents related to white LEDs, including U.S. Patent Nos. 5998925 and 7531960.  These two patents are directed to YAG phosphor being used with blue LED chip to emit white light, and its phosphor concentration.  The jury before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found on April 22, 2015 that all asserted claims of these patents are invalid for obviousness and/or lack of enablement. 

The judge’s final verdict will probably be based on Michigan Federal jury findings that two Nichia patents were invalid in the case against Everlight, said former Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) researcher Jerry Yu.

A Michigan federal jury on Wednesday granted a favorable ruling to Everlight Electronics Corp. by declaring two of Nichia’s US LED patents to be invalid, according to Law360.

Leading global LED manufacturer Nichia’s product lineup for 2015 will include UV LEDs, Mn 4+red phosphor powder, and laser diode products, company representatives revealed at a recent press conference at Hotel Okura in Taipei, Taiwan.

Japanese LED chip manufacturer Nichia’s first flip chip LED product, set to be launched in October this year, will be one ninth the size of the average flip chip, said the company’s optoelectronic division chief technology officer today at a press conference at Hotel Okura in Taipei, Taiwan.

Recent patent litigations launched by major LED companies aim straight at latecomers in Chinese and Taiwanese LED industry, who have insufficient patent portfolio. The LED market will be restructured to focus on major LED companies with extensive patent portfolio and technological strengths.

FZtech Inc. is pleased to announce the brand new LED Bike Torch FZL-1210 with handy bracket. The powerful 1W Nichia LED light emits 70 lumens with high intensity beaming spot, offering cost-effective replacement for bike lighting. It is also suitable for use in mountain climbing, hiking, camping, and home maintenance.

MLS has started to sell its products through Korean distributor Optoleds in Korea, according to a report by ETNews. MLS has become one of the first Chinese LED package manufacturers to be ranked among global top 10 LED manufacturers. A research organization estimated based on current development speed, MLS will be able to surpass top ranking Japanese LED manufacturer Nichia.

LED is a fast changing industry. Asian manufacturers have taken their own paths to confront the tide of change. Japanese manufacturers are actively seeking collaboration opportunities with Taiwanese manufacturers, while Korean LED manufacturer Samsung has gradually exited the global LED market. Chinese manufacturers on the other hand are expanding production capacity on the back of government support.

Global LED market prices have been disrupted by heavily subsidized Chinese manufacturers, to stay relevant Taiwanese manufacturers need to work on strengthening patent portfolios, said Katsuyuki Akutagawa, Chief Legal and IP Officer Board Director for Nichia at a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Thursday.

Restructures in the LED industry this year have shaken the market, whether it has been Philips decision to spin off its traditional lighting business, or the sudden bankruptcy of sapphire manufacturer GT Advanced Technology. But the worse is to come in 2015, when Chinese LED manufacturers technology matures, said a Nichia spokesperson.

After Shuji Nakamura was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics last Tuesday, the lawsuit the Japanese scientist brought against former employer Nichia in 2001 over patent compensation received renewed media attention. The Japanese LED manufacturer insisted it compensated Nakamura fairly for his work at a press conference in Taipei on Thursday. 

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was shared between three Japanese blue LED inventors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura. The three inventors were recognized for their achievements in the highly energy efficient blue LED, which led to the emergence of white light.

The quickly spreading LED lighting market has attracted international manufacturers to enter China’s LED package market, according to the latest “China’s LED Package Industry Market Report 2014” by LEDinside, a subdivision of global market research organization TrendForce. In 2013, the Chinese LED package market value was up 20% Year-on-Year (YoY) to US$7.2 billion. Top 10 ranking manufacturers in the industry clinched a combined market share of 43.6%. 

Everlight and Epistar’s combined market value in the next two years will overtake Nichia’s current ranking as world number one, a CNA report cited Everlight Chairman Robert Yeh saying.

GE announced today a research breakthrough that will vastly improve the color and crispness of images displayed on LED devices – everything from cell phones and tablets to televisions. Scientists at GE Lighting and GE Global Research developed a phosphor powder that, when packaged inside an LED, push the picture quality of LED electronics to new heights.

Nichia Corporation, headquartered in Tokushima and directed by President Eiji Ogawa, announced today its decision to commercialize blue and green semiconductor laser diode models specifically designed for automotive Head-Up Display (HUD) systems*1 .