Nichia settles LED patent dispute with Epistar

April 10, 2006
Nichia has dropped a patent lawsuit involving Epistar, thanks in part to Epistar's merger with UEC.
LED manufacturer Nichia Corporation has reached an agreement with its Taiwan-based rival Epistar Corporation to amicably settle the current intellectual property lawsuits between the companies in Korea and Japan.

Nichia has been involved in a dispute in Tokyo District Court with E&E Japan Co., Ltd, the Japanese affiliate of the Taiwanese companies Everlight and Epistar (see Nichia granted injunction against imported white LEDs).

Nichia says that it has acknowledged Epistar's promise that it will respect Nichia's IP rights. Also, Nichia has "put an emphasis on Epistar's merger with United Epitaxy Co. (UEC), which has maintained a good business relationship with Nichia for years."

On this basis, Nichia has decided to settle all pending IP litigations between the companies, and no further details of the settlement have been disclosed.