On July 7th, Seoul Semiconductor announced that it has successfully revoked Japanese lens maker Enplass LED lens patent in Taiwan, adding to a string of legal victories against Enplas in the United States, Korea, and Europe. As a result of Seouls challenge, Enplass patent has been revoked in Taiwan.
Since patent litigation between the two companies began, Seoul has pursued enforcement of its LED backlight lens and system patents against infringing products by Enplas. On March 24, 2016, a U.S. jury ruled in Seouls favor against Enplas, finding that Enplas actively induced infringement of Seouls patented technology with respect to all of the patent claims presented by Seoul. The jury found that Enplass infringement was willful. The jury also unanimously agreed that Seouls LED backlight lens patents were valid, rejecting all of Enplass invalidity arguments. The jury awarded Seoul US $4.07 million in damages for induced infringement.
Seoul has also won worldwide victories in its invalidation actions against Enplass backlight lens patents. In the U.S., Seoul filed inter partes review (IPR) petitions against three backlight lens patents owned by Enplas. All three were invalidated by the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In Korea, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the USPTO, invalidating all the claims of Enplass backlight lens patent. In Europe, the European Patent Office declined to register Enplass backlight lens patent based on prior art references that were brought to its attention by Seoul.
On January 26, 2016, Seoul filed an invalidation action against Enplass backlight lens patent in Taiwan based upon the same invalidity grounds. Enplas was unable to defend against these invalidation contentions and has had to cancel all of its patent claims, which has resulted in revocation of the patent.
A series of patent litigations against Enplas has demonstrated that Seoul Semiconductor has pioneered patent portfolios regarding LED backlight technology, said Seung Ryeol Ryu, Seouls IT Application R&D Officer. We are continuously monitoring third party companies that are infringing our patented technology and will pursue enforcement actions where necessary to protect our companys long-standing investment in intellectual property.
Contact:
Chang-Keun Yang - Seoul Semiconductor(+82) 70.4391.8012
E-mail:
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Submit new products, case studies/projects, and other press releases at http://www.ledsmagazine.com/content/leds/en/addcontent.html.
More from Seoul Semiconductor:
Seoul Semiconductor becomes licensee for Lumitech PI-LED patents for tunable lighting
Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd has won its patent infringement lawsuit against American electronics company Craig Electronics Inc.