News

1 October 2008

 

KIPT invalidates a second Nichia patent

Korean LED maker Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd says that the Korea Intellectual Property Tribunal (KIPT) has ruled that the LED-related patent KP 491482 owned by Japanese LED maker Nichia Corp is invalid, based on lack of inventiveness. This follows a ruling in July when KIPT invalidated Nichia's Korean patent 406201 for lack of novelty.

A year ago, in October 2007, Nichia brought a lawsuit against Seoul Semiconductor alleging infringement of the 491482 patent. Subsequently, this March, Seoul asked KIPT to examine its validity. Now, after extensive examination, KIPT has determined that the patent lacks an inventive step and has therefore declared it invalid.

“Following another invalidation of Nichia’s patents, which were asserted against Seoul, Seoul is in a stronger position and feels confident that we will prevail in all the patent infringement lawsuits pending against Nichia,” says a spokesperson for the firm. "As a company which respects patent rights, we will continue to sincerely evaluate the valid scope of all patents relating to our products, and where necessary will not hesitate to verify the facts in patent disputes.”

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