Technical Insight
Toyoda Gosei's new lawsuits double the pressure on Nichia (LED News)
As well as facing court action initiated by its most famous former employee, Shuji Nakamura, Nichia has been hit by two more patent infringement lawsuits filed by Toyoda Gosei, a rival LED manufacturer. Filed in Osaka District Court, the new lawsuits both seek injunctions against Nichia to prevent the manufacturing and sale of GaN-based blue LEDs. A lawsuit filed on August 10 alleges infringement against Japanese patent no. 3,026,102 entitled "A light-emitting GaN-based compound semiconductor device", which relates to LEDs with reduced operating voltage and higher light-emitting efficiency. The second lawsuit, dated September 3, relates to Japanese patent no. 3,209,096 entitled "A light-emitting semiconductor device using a group III nitride compound", which describes LEDs with improved luminous intensity, device characteristics and reliability. Toyoda Gosei alleges that Nichia is infringing both patents by making and selling GaN-based blue LEDs in Japan. In its press releases, Toyoda Gosei states that it "has been litigating against Nichia with respect to a number of patents... and will continue to enforce its intellectual property rights." The total number of lawsuits filed by Nichia and Toyoda Gosei against each other has now reached double figures.
