Seoul Semiconductor: Philips lighting products must recall 7-year-old items
The German District Court of Düsseldorf ruled in favor of Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ:046890) in the patent infringement lawsuits on November 19 and also ordered that products manufactured by Philips Lighting and sold since March 2017 be recalled and destroyed. The court also ruled that a fine of up to 250,000 euros would be imposed for any violation of this order. On December 17, the Federal Patent Court also confirmed the validity of these patents, underscoring the strength of many related patents.
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Application examples with CRI 70 or higher (Photo: Seoul Semiconductor)
These court orders cover the core technology used to achieve a CRI 70 (color rendering index 70%) or higher and apply to all home lighting, automotive lighting products, IT flashes and backlights. Because the impact of these rulings applies to all products that infringe the patented technology, they are expected to impact markets valued at over $100 billion for manufactured goods and over $10 billion for lighting packaging , automotive and IT will have.
The Philips Lighting brand (currently Signify Group) is the world's leading lighting company with annual sales of approximately $7 billion in 2023. The court ordered Conrad Electronic, the global distributor where these products are sold, to stop the sale of certain products manufactured by Philips Lighting subsidiaries and also ordered the recall and destruction of infringing products manufactured since March 29 were distributed on the market in 2017. In addition, the court ruled that any non-compliance will result in a fine of up to 250,000 euros per violation. This represents a strong punitive measure to prevent such violations from occurring again. These court orders apply to all products with a CRI of 70 or higher, not just products manufactured by Philips Lighting brand subsidiaries. In particular, by rejecting Philips Lighting's annulment lawsuit, Seoul Semiconductor has strengthened the related patent technology.
For 30 years, Seoul Semiconductor has pursued its vision of “clean, healthy and beautiful with light” and strives for a paradigm shift from harmful artificial light to the light of nature. To achieve this, the company invests nearly $100 million annually, about 10% of its revenue, in research and development (R&D). As a result, Seoul Semiconductor holds a staggering number of over 18,000 optoelectronic patents in the LED industry and has been collaborating with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) on joint research and development to improve CRI for years.
Chung Hoon Lee, founder and CEO of Seoul, said: “Intellectual property infringement leads to frustration among young entrepreneurs and innovative companies.” He added: “Our investment in preventing technology theft helps create a fairer market and encourages young people and companies around the world to continue to innovate and help us all contribute to a better world.” This is in line with one of our company’s three core missions: Honor, Trust and Contribution.”
About Seoul Semiconductor
Seoul Semiconductor is the world's third-largest global opto-semiconductor (LED) company, focused exclusively on LEDs for 30 years. Under the vision of “Making the world clean, healthy and beautiful with light,” Seoul Semiconductor is leading the new paradigm of light with world-first technologies in lighting, automotive and IT (backlighting), while Seoul Viosys, a subsidiary, is a leader in the areas of MicroLED, UV, sensors and Dacom.
Notable world-first technologies include the innovative wireless LED “WICOP”; “SunLike,” which recreates the full spectrum of natural sunlight; the high-voltage LED “Acrich”; the ultra-bright “nPola” LED, which is more than ten times brighter than conventional LEDs; the RGB single-chip MicroLED “WICOP Pixel”; and the “Violeds” UV cleaning technology.
Seoul Semiconductor holds a staggering 18,000 patents in the industry and has won over 100 patent disputes in eight countries over the past 20 years. Because the company believes that the patent system gives hope to young people and serves as a springboard to a better world, it is actively committed to protecting intellectual property. For more information, please visit our official websites (http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en, https://www.seoulviosys.com/en) and our social media channels (LinkedIn).
About CRI (color rendering index)
An indicator of how accurately a light source reproduces the colors of objects under natural sunlight. (For example, CRI 70: Designed so that the colors of 14 standard color samples match more than 70% of the colors visible under sunlight.)
Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
Jinseop Jung
jjs8732@seoulsemicon.com
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