US phosphor manufacturer Intematix has signed a patent cross-license agreement relating to silicate-based phosphor materials for LEDs. The agreement was signed with a consortium of four companies – Tridonic, Toyoda Gosei, Leuchtstoffwerk Breitungen and Litec GbR – that owns patents related to BOSE phosphor materials and their applications in LEDs (see Intematix and Tridonic consortium announce agreement on BOSE phosphor patents for LEDs).

Nichia files lawsuit against Harvatek, distributors

Nichia Corp. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany at the District Court Düsseldorf against Harvatek Corp., a Taiwanese LED manufacturer. Nichia subsequently filed lawsuits against several German distributors of the two different Harvatek white LEDs (see Nichia files patent infringement lawsuits against Harvatek and several distributors in Germany).

Cree files lawsuit against Semileds

Cree has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit in Delaware District Court against fellow US-based LED maker and SemiLEDs Inc. and Helios Crew Corp., a SemiLEDs subsidiary.

The complaint cites 3 US patents owned by Cree - numbers US 7,737,459 B2; US 7,211,833 B2; and US 7,611,915 – which relate principally to LED chip architectures.

Luminus awarded 50th US patent

US-based LED maker Luminus Devices was recently awarded its 50th patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering “big-chip” LED technology and related devices, packages and systems. The company says it has also been granted 13 non-US patents in China, Korea and Taiwan (see Luminus Devices awarded 50th US patent for big-chip LEDs).

Lemins joins Philips licensing program

LED lamp maker Lemnis Lighting has joined Philips’ licensing program for solid-state lighting. This gives Lemnis access to Philips’ large portfolio of patents related to LED systems and controls, while Philips has obtained access to Lemnis’ LED-lamp architecture and control patents (see Philips and Lemnis sign LED patent license agreement).