Nichia moves to stop sale of Cree LEDs in Japan

Sumitomo Corp. (Osaka, Japan) has been named in a lawsuit brought by Nichia Corp. (Anan, Japan) related to blue-light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The suit, filed in Tokyo District Court, alleges infringement of a patent issued to Nichia in Japan and seeks an injunction to stop Sumitomo from selling Cree Research (Durham, NC) standard-brightness blue LED product in Japan. The suit is not slowing down business for Cree, however, which recently announced $22 million in new LED orders, primarily from Taiwanese customers.