Seoul Semiconductor, the Korean LED maker, has released a statement to clarify its position with respect to the lawsuits filed by rival Japanese LED maker Nichia – see Nichia files lawsuit against Seoul's Acriche in Germany.
A Seoul Semiconductor official said that "Nichia’s patent has [EP(DE) 622858] already been examined by experts and determined that Acriche technology is different from Nichia’s patent. Therefore, Seoul Semiconductor is confident that Acriche does not infringe Nichia’s patent."
Nichia has filed several lawsuits against Seoul Semiconductor in US, Korea, UK, and Germany. Seoul believes that these lawsuits are without merit, and points to statements made by Judge Chesney of the U.S District Court for the Northern District of California in the Design patent infringement litigation between Seoul Semiconductor and Nichia.
Seoul's press release quoted Judge Chesney in her recent order: “Plaintiff[Nichia] fails to explain why its use of the United States federal court system for a purpose having nothing of real substance to do with the United States is justified”. Judge Chesney further stated that “to the extent plaintiff [Nichia], in seeking a jury verdict…, may have been attempting to obtain some unstated ancillary advantage over defendants in Asia.”
Seoul Semiconductor says its takes intellectual property rights "very seriously" and has also filed multiple lawsuits against Nichia for patent infringement. It expects the outcome of these lawsuits "to affect wide range products and businesses."
A Seoul Semiconductor official said, "we respect other company’s intellectual property rights and [expect] others to do the same. However, if a baseless lawsuit is brought against us, we intend to strongly defend our rights.” He then added, “we further intend to make sure that our customers and business partners are not negatively affected by such lawsuits.”
