November 10, 2005, San Jose, CA--Lumileds Lighting has initiated litigation for patent infringement against LED manufacturers Epistar and United Epitaxy Company (UEC). Both Epister and UEC are located in the Hsin-chu Science-based Industrial Park in Taiwan, China, and last August Epistar announced a merger with UEC, slated for completion by the end of this year.
Lumileds filed a complaint against both companies at the United States International Trade Commission (ITC; Washington, DC). In that complaint, Lumileds accuses Epistar's omnidirectional mirror adhesion AlGaInP LED products and UEC's metal bond and glue bond AlGaInP LED products of infringing one or more of Lumileds' patents: United States Patent No. 5,008,718; Patent No. 5,376,580; and Patent No. 5,502,316. Lumileds seeks an exclusion order barring entry into the United States of the accused LEDs as well as products containing those LEDs.
Lumileds also filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California for patent infringement against UEC and Epistar. In that complaint, Lumileds asserts the same patents against UEC and Epistar as in the ITC litigation. Lumileds seeks both an injunction against future infringement as well as damages, including enhanced damages for willful infringement.