In the case filed in the US District Court, Osram has accused the Japanese company of infringing six US patents for white LEDs.
Osram, based in Munich, asked for a jury trial, an order to stop use of the inventions and unspecified damages in a complaint filed on November 27 in Wilmington, Delaware.
"Citizen has continued to show no respect for Osram's US patent rights" by importing and selling diodes based on patents awarded since 2001, the complaint said.
In May 2005, Osram filed a patent lawsuit against Citizen in the Dusseldorf Regional Court in Germany (see /content/leds/en/articles/2005/05/osram-opto-files-patent-lawsuit-against-citizen.html/1).
Citizen has a license to use white LED technology owned by its fellow Japanese LED maker Nichia. Meanwhile, Osram and Nichia have a cross-licensing agreement to use each others' white LED patents.
