Seoul Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany asserting infringement of its high-power LED technology

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany in the District Court of Düsseldorf against Mouser Electronics Inc. (“Mouser”), a global electronic components distributor, asserting infringement of an LED patent.

According to the complaint, the accused products include LEDs for high-power light emission. Further investigation suggests that the accused products from Mouser are manufactured by multiple LED companies, including Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd., a global top-10 LED maker. In the lawsuit, Seoul has sought a permanent injunction, damages, and recall and destruction of the allegedly infringing products.

The asserted patented technology serves to efficiently extract light emitted from the internal LED structure by treating LED chip surfaces, thereby significantly improving light intensity and brightness. This patented technology has been widely used for various high-power LED applications, such as automobile lighting, cell phone flashlights, outdoor lighting, UV LED appliances, and others.

According to market research firm IHS, the LED penetration rate in automobile headlamps is expected to increase sharply to 32.3 % by 2021 from the current penetration rate of 16.4%. This high-power LED technology is already being used for exterior automobile lighting including headlights and daytime running lights. Furthermore, it is expected to become a significant technology for electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, which require high-power LED lighting with high heat dissipation for energy efficiency.

In addition, this high-power LED technology also applies to LEDs for mobile phone flashlights, which require higher light intensity. Because margins for flashlight LEDs are higher than those for backlights, the flashlights LED market has still grown steadily despite the overall decline in the IT sector LED market.