The patents acquired, which include a critical electromechanical patent, enable Sunovia's EvoLucia(TM) LED lighting fixtures to differentiate between a power failure and the power being turned off at the switch.
This proprietary feature allows Sunovia the ability to market LED lighting products that remain illuminated during power outages. This system integration is especially important in countries that experience frequent blackouts and also to domestic customers that are concerned with weather events.
Currently, the availability of products with this important feature is limited to a hardwire fixture that must be wired into the electrical outlet. The acquisition of these patents allows Sunovia the unique ability to deliver a wireless product to the market that can be safely and simply installed by anyone that can use a screwdriver.
Fox Group licenses SiC patents
The Fox Group, Inc. has entered into a patent license agreement with the Wide Bandgap Materials group of II-VI Incorporated (see press release). This is the third non-exclusive license agreement Fox Group has signed in as many months for its patents related to silicon carbide (SiC), a compound semiconductor substrate material. Details of the patent license were not disclosed.
Barney O’Meara, President & CEO of The Fox Group, said "Our key patents are for silicon carbide with low defect density, which is especially desirable for LEDs, RF devices, and high power semiconductors. At this time non-exclusive licenses are still available to companies in the silicon carbide industry worldwide."
Nextreme raises $13 million in series B financing
Nextreme Thermal Solutions has secured $13 million in Series B financing in a round led by Chart Venture Partners and also including previous investors Redshift Venture Partners, Harris & Harris Group, In-Q-Tel and RTI International as well as Japan-based ITOCHU Corporation and ITOCHU Technology Ventures, Inc.
Nextreme Thermal Solutions designs and manufactures microscale thermal and power management products for the semiconductor, photonics, consumer, automotive and defense/aerospace industries. A spokesperson said that the company's thermal management technology can be used to cool LEDs, enhancing output and performance and prolonging life.
The funding will be used to ramp Nextreme's products into full production in 2009 in response to demand from the photonics and military markets. The company has 38 employees and is based near Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Nextreme's thin-film thermoelectric products are manufactured in volume with the Thermal Copper Pillar Bump process, an established electronic packaging approach that scales well into large arrays. The Thermal Copper Pillar Bump process integrates thin-film thermoelectric material into the solder bumped interconnects that provide mechanical and electrical connections for today's high performance/high density integrated circuits.
