Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ 046890) (“Seoul”), a global innovator of LED products and technology, announced on September 26 that it won a patent infringement lawsuit against Service Lighting And Electrical Supplies, Inc., an operator of “1000bulbs.com” – the largest online light bulb distribution channel.
The Texas Northern District federal court issued a permanent injunction against the sales of more than 50 lighting products, as well as any colorable variations of those products unless they have been licensed, according to the parties’ stipulation. Therefore, the Court will prohibit the sale of similar products if they prove to be mere colorable variations of accused products.
In this litigation, Seoul asserted 10 patented technologies significant for LED bulb components, such as a Multi-Wavelength Insulation Reflector widely used for “0.5W to 3W” level mid-power LED packages, Multi Junction Technology for mounting and integrating many LEDs within a small area, LED Driver technology for current conversion and control, and LED packages with enhanced durability. Particularly, Seoul’s Multi Junction Technology is essential for manufacturing 12V/18V high-voltage lighting products, and Seoul is the pioneer of this technology.
Recently, the German court also issued two permanent injunction judgments against the sale of products infringing Seoul’s patents and also ordered the distributor to recall such products in December 2018 and August 2019 respectively.
Similar to the evolution of smart phones, LED technology has progressed from first generation products to second generation products based on continuous technological advances. This litigation aims to protect second generation LED technology.
“We hope that Seoul’s success story based on significant R&D efforts could show a good example to young entrepreneurs and small businesses struggling to have their talents recognized in the market,” says Seoul’s founder Chung Hoon Lee. “We will continue necessary actions against companies that we suspect of infringing our patents or of unlawful access to our trade secrets by luring employees,” added Lee.