SSC Wins Repeated Attempts to Challenge its White LED Patent
Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ: 046890), one of the eight largest LED manufacturers in the world, announced that on October 11, 2007 the Patent Court of Korea turned down appeals brought by Taiwan-based Advanced Optoelectronic Technology Inc.(AOT) and Korea-based ITSWELL to overturn earlier decisions from the Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal. The Tribunal had rejected patent invalidation actions brought by AOT and ITSWELL against Seoul Semiconductors utility patent for producing white LED.
In 2005, Seoul Semiconductor filed and won all the preliminary injunctions for infringement of patent pertaining to its white LED against AOT and ITSWELL in Seoul Central District Court. AOT and ITSWELL responded to these injunctions by filing invalidation actions against Seoul Semiconductors white LED patent in the Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal citing that Seoul Semiconductors white LED patent lacks novelty. The Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal rejected both AOT and ITSWELLs invalidation actions at the end of last year.
AOT and ITSWELL appealed even this ruling issued by of the Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal, and filed lawsuits with the Patent Court of Korea. The October 11 decision from the Patent Court of Korea clearly establishes the Seoul Semiconductors white LED patent in Korea.
In addition, the Intellectual Property Office in Taiwan rejected AOTs invalidation action against Seoul Semiconductors white LED patent in Taiwan in August 3, 2007.
Those winnings clearly illustrate the novelty and validity of Seoul Semiconductors white LED patent, and confirm Seoul Semiconductors global position as a leading innovator of LED lighting technology.
Seoul Semiconductor is the eighth-largest LED specialist in the world in 2006. The white LED patent was issued in the major countries such as the USA, Japan, China, and Taiwan and Korea, establishing a strong foundation for global patent protection.
