Altair brought action against the Taiwanese company when it discovered HTGG was infringing upon Altair's patent for LED-driven replacement lighting for fluorescent lamps.
In an order handed down February 29, Judge Denise Page Hood in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division) ruled HTGG infringed upon Altair's patent for LED lighting.
The Judge granted the company's motion to permanently enjoin HTGG and its distributors from "marketing, advertising, publicly displaying, offering to sell, selling, using, and/or manufacturing in the United States, or importing into the United States, its current product-line of LED powered replacement light tubes to be used with fluorescent lighting fixtures."
One key patent assigned to Altair in this field is US patent 7,049,761, filed on February 12, 2001 and issued on May 23, 2006.
The patent entitled "Light tube and power supply circuit" describes a light tube containing multiple LEDs, which are illuminated by means of a pair of end caps connected to the power supply circuit.
illumisys/Altair is understood to be involved in legal action with other companies manufacturing LED-based fluorescent-replacement lamps.
ilumisys, Inc. is a Troy, Michigan-based company focused on next-generation solid-state lighting technology and was formed in 2007 as a spinoff venture and wholly owned subsidiary of Altair Engineering, Inc.
Initial products will be derived from Altair's intellectual property as they relate to the direct replacement of fluorescent light tubes and incandescent lamps with LED lamps.
