Nichia and Luminus Enter Cross Licensing and Manufacturing Partnership
Nichia Corporation and Luminus Devices Inc., today announced an alliance based on cross-licensing of intellectual property, technology sharing, and a manufacturing partnership. The two companies have agreed to combine their expertise and resources in order to bring to the market a new breed of high power white LEDs.
While details of the business agreement are confidential, the shared objective of the partnership is to accelerate the adoption of solid-state lighting. The combination of technologies of both companies, including Nichia’s renowned phosphor and epitaxial materials and Luminus’ groundbreaking PhlatLight® large-chip technology, will create novel high power LED products that will enable new solid-state lighting applications. The companies will cross license intellectual property and share critical process knowledge which is expected to result in new and innovative products. They have also established a manufacturing partnership, whereby each company will contribute the resources, materials and capabilities needed to meet the quality and performance requirements for the products.
“We would like to pay the greatest honor to Luminus Devices and their innovative technologies,” said Eiji Ogawa, President of Nichia. “We look forward to working together to create environmentally friendly products with the combination of our technologies.”
“We are privileged to be working closely with Nichia,” said Udi Meirav, CEO of Luminus. “But the biggest winners will be our customers, who will have unprecedented LED performance and the benefit of a reliable, high volume supply of these novel products.”
Some of the jointly developed products will be marketed by Nichia and others by Luminus, both of which will be able to use the prestigious PhlatLight trademark. The first of these products are planned for launch in 2009.
About Nichia:
Nichia Corporation is the pioneer and leader of blue and white LEDs, and the largest supplier of white LEDs in the world. Nichia headquarters and primary operations are located in Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. For more information visit www.nichia.com
About Luminus:
Luminus Devices, Inc. developed and manufactures large-chip solid state light sources – PhlatLight® LEDs - for a variety of lighting applications. Its headquarters and primary manufacturing facilities are located in Billerica, Massachusetts, U.S.A. For more information, visit www.luminus.com.
