Seoul Semiconductor has claimed that Everlight lied about its patent lawsuit win at a German court.
Seoul Semiconductor said that patent EP1697983, which the Taiwanese company said it won a patent invalidation suit against, did not belong to the South Korean company. The company said it was not the subject of Everlight’s litigation at the German patent court.
Seoul Semiconductor also said that the plaintiff of the lawsuit was Epileds, a partner of Everlight, and not Everlight itself.
The patent in question relates to the structure of nitrogen-face of gallium nitride (GaN) LED. It is also registered in South Korea’s patent office.
Seoul Semiconductor have been using the patent though a licensee given by the original patent owners Japan Science and Technology Agency and the Regents of the University of California. Professor Shuji Nakamura of the University of California is one of the inventors.
On Monday, Everlight claimed that it has won a patent invalidation suit with partner Epileds against Seoul Semiconductors at German Federal Patent Court on July 2.
Seoul Semiconductor will likely sue Everlight over the matter. The two companies are embroiled in lawsuits in Germany, Italy, the UK and South Korea. Seoul Semiconductor won 10 patent lawsuits against its Taiwanese counterpart so far.
In August of last year, Seoul Semiconductor won a sales injunction against Everlight in Germany. The court found that Everlight’s 2835(2.8mm x 3.5mm) LED Package distributed by Mouser Electronics violated Seoul Semiconductor’s patents. The court also ordered all products sold from February 2017 to be recalled.
