Cree and Nichia join forces on white lighting
Arch-rival GaN LED manufacturers Cree and Nichia have signed a new patent cross license agreement that specifically covers solid-state white lighting technology.
The deal is said to complement an agreement initiated when the two companies first settled mutual litigation claims back in November 2002.
"This agreement gives Cree access to [Nichia's] important technology," acknowledged Cree CEO Chuck Swoboda.
Nichia said that it expected the cross-license to cement it and Cree's position as leaders in solid-state lighting technology in the face of future competition. "Our market is getting more competitive," said the Japanese company in a statement.
At the recent Strategies in Light event in Burlingame, CA, Cree also detailed some recent progress that it has made with white-light sources, which it says will speed adoption of LEDs into mainstream lighting applications.
The advances include a standard 5 mm LED emitting 100 lm/W and operating at 50% wall-plug efficiency.
Meanwhile, Cree's white XLamp team used power LEDs operating at 350 mA to produce a lamp with a maximum luminous flux of 60 lm.
Chris James, the marketing manager at Cree Lighting, enthused, "I believe the LED industry is advancing toward replacing the light bulb at a more rapid pace than just a few years ago."
