Seoul Semiconductor: Philips Lighting Products Ordered to Recall 7-Year-Old Items

The German District Court of Düsseldorf, on November 19 ruled in favor of Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ:046890) in the patent infringement lawsuits, and also ordered that products manufactured by Philips Lighting and sold since March 2017 be recalled and destroyed. The Court also ruled that a fine of up to €250,000 would be imposed for each violation of this order. On December 17, the German Federal Patent Court also affirmed the validity of these patents, which solidifies the strength of many related patents.

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These court orders relate to the core technology used to achieve CRI 70 (Color Rendering Index 70%) or higher, applicable to all home lighting, automotive lighting products, IT flash, and backlights. Since the effects of these judgments are applicable to all products infringing on the patented technology, it is expected to have a ripple effect on markets worth over $100 billion for finished goods and over $10 billion for packages in the lighting, automotive, and IT sectors.

Philips Lighting brand (currently Signify Group) is the world’s leading lighting company with 2023 annual revenue of approximately $7 billion. The Court ordered Conrad Electronic, the global distributor where these products are sold, to immediately cease the sale of certain products manufactured by affiliates of Philips Lighting brand, and also ordered the recall and destruction of infringing products distributed in the market since March 29, 2017. Additionally, the Court ruled that a fine of up to €250,000 per violation would be imposed for each non-compliance. This serves as a strong punitive measure to prevent the recurrence of such infringement activities. These court orders are applicable to all products with a CRI of 70 or higher, not just those manufactured by the affiliates of Philips Lighting brand. Particularly, by defeating the invalidation lawsuit filed by Philips Lighting, Seoul Semiconductor has strengthened the related patent technology.

For the past 30 years, Seoul Semiconductor has been pursuing its vision of "clean, healthy, and beautiful with light," striving to shift the paradigm from harmful artificial lighting to the light of nature. To achieve this, the company invests nearly $100 million annually, about 10% of its revenue, in research and development (R&D). As a result, Seoul Semiconductor holds an overwhelming number of over 18,000 optoelectronic patents in the LED industry and has collaborated with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) for years on joint research and development to improve CRI.

Chung Hoon Lee, Seoul’s founder and CEO said, “Infringement of intellectual property causes frustration among young entrepreneurs and innovative companies.” He added, “Our investment in preventing technology theft helps to create a fairer market and encourages young people and companies around the world to continue innovating, helping all of us contribute to a better world. This aligns with one of our company's three core missions: honor, trust, and contribution.”

About Seoul Semiconductor

Seoul Semiconductor is the world's third-largest global opto semiconductor (LED) company that has focused solely on LEDs for the past 30 years. Under the vision of "Make the world clean, healthy and beautiful with light" Seoul Semiconductor leads the new paradigm of light with world-first technologies in the fields of lighting, automotive, and IT (backlighting), while Seoul Viosys, a subsidiary, is at the forefront of MicroLED, UV, sensors, and Dacom.

Notable world-first technologies include the innovative no-wire LED "WICOP"; "SunLike," which replicates the full spectrum of natural sunlight; the high-voltage LED "Acrich"; the ultra-bright "nPola" LED, which is more than 10 times brighter than traditional LEDs; the RGB one-chip MicroLED "WICOP Pixel"; and the UV cleaning technology "Violeds."

Seoul Semiconductor holds an overwhelming 18,000 patents in the industry and has won over 100 patent litigations across eight countries in the past 20 years. Believing that the patent system offers hope to young people and serves as a stepping stone to a better world, the company actively engages in intellectual property protection activities. For more details, please visit our official websites (http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en, https://www.seoulviosys.com/en) and social media channels (LinkedIn).

About CRI (Color Rendering Index)

An indicator of how accurately a light source reproduces the colors of objects under natural sunlight. (For example, CRI 70: Designed so that the colors of 14 standard color samples match more than 70% of the colors seen under sunlight.)

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