LED term: blue LED patent litigation

Around the GaN blue LED related patents, large LED manufacturers have litigation in Japan and overseas. In 1996, Nichia Chemical filed a lawsuit against Toyota for its infringement of the company’s patents. In response to this, Toyota Synthetics also sued Nichia Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Since then, it launched patents related to infringement and requested that the other patent be invalid. litigation. Not only for Toyota's synthesis, Nichia Chemical also initiated lawsuits with Cree, Epistar, Everlight Electronics and Seoul Semiconductor.

The litigants are not limited to blue LEDs, but also include white LEDs and GaN-based semiconductor lasers (blue-violet semiconductor lasers, etc.). In the industry, Nisajoku Chemical Co., Ltd., which first mass-produced blue LEDs and white LEDs, refused to provide the company's patent license in accordance with the policy of "selling products but not selling them."

However, after entering 2002, this situation has changed a lot. Nichia Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. first began to provide white LED related patents to Citizen Electronics; in June 2002, it signed a cross-licensing contract with OSRAM GmbH and the company's group companies for patents on GaN-based light-emitting devices; September 2002. Ended a patent infringement lawsuit that lasted for 6 years with Toyota Synthetics. In October 2002, it signed a cross-licensing contract with Lumileds Lighting, LLC (now Philips Lighting). In November of the same year, it reached a settlement with Cree and signed a cross-licensing contract. As a result, with the Nichia Chemical Industry as the core, Toyota, Synopsys, Philips Lighting and Cree and other large LED manufacturers have established a cooperative relationship.

After entering the 21st century, the market and enterprise disputes have changed

Since the Nichia Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. listed a blue LED in 1993, it had reached a settlement with Toyota Toyoda in 2002.

Afterwards, the patent dispute between Nichia and Asian LED manufacturers continued. However, in February 2009, Nichia Chemical and South Korean large LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor reached a settlement and signed a cross-licensing contract.