Nichia Initiates U.K. Patent Infringement Lawsuit against Seoul Semiconductor for Important Thermal Annealing Patent

September 18, 2008... Nichia of Japan has again brought patent litigation against Seoul Semiconductor. On September 16, 2008, Nichia Corporation filed an action for patent infringement and damages in the U.K. against Seoul Semiconductor of Korea. Nichia’s lawsuit against Seoul Semiconductor alleges that Seoul violated what Nichia called one of its most important patents, the EP(UK) 0 541,373 patent entitled, “Method of Manufacturing P-type Compound Semiconductor,”(the Annealing Patent). It relates to a thermal annealing method for manufacturing a p type GaN-based semiconductor.

Nichia says that the Annealing Patent is fundamental and indispensable patent for the mass production of GaN-based LEDs and LDs. Specifically Nichia alleges that LED chips installed in the white LED products of Seoul Semiconductor’s flagship product line, the Achriche series, are manufactured using the process disclosed in the Annealing Patent. Source