In February 2009, Korea Semiconductor (SeoulSemiconductor) reached a settlement with the Nichia Chemical Industry, which had a dispute over white LEDs and other light-emitting components, and signed a patent cross-licensing agreement. At the LightingFair2009, which is being held at the Tokyo International Convention and Exhibition Center in Tokyo, the company has demonstrated a variety of high-power white LEDs that can be driven by AC. Recently, the reporter interviewed Li Xiaomin, CTO and vice president of the R&D center where the company went to Japan, on the reconciliation of Seoul Semiconductor and Nichia Chemical Industry and the development trend of white LED.
The two companies that had experienced fierce disputes suddenly became bright. Not only has a settlement been reached, but a patent cross-licensing agreement has also been signed. Please tell us about the process.
Li: The dispute with the chemical industry in Nichia began a few years ago. Initially due to the issue of creative rights, it was later due to white LED patent issues. Nichia Chemical Industry and the company negotiated these disputes and concluded that the patents held by both parties are indispensable to each other, and therefore signed a patent cross-licensing agreement that can be used for mutual use. In other words, the two sides reached a settlement on an equal footing and signed a patent cross-licensing agreement.
Nichia Chemical Industry is an old-fashioned manufacturer of blue LEDs and white LEDs, and a giant in the field. It is undeniable that Nichia has a number of important patents that are extremely difficult to avoid and can be called basic patents. However, we also have a number of patents that can be called basic patents. For example, our US patent 5075742 (hereinafter referred to as the 742 patent). The Texas court of the United States has just determined that LEDs using active layers of InGaN have to use the 742 patent for structural characteristics. The patented technology has also been patented in Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
Please talk about the patent strategy of Seoul Semiconductor after the dispute with the chemical industry in Nichia.
Li: In the future, we will actively exercise patent rights to deal with companies that infringe on our intellectual property rights. Previously, the patent rights were not fully exercised. Because it is a dispute with the Japanese chemical industry, it is too busy. In most cases, we are sued, and there are very few cases in which we initiate litigation.
However, this situation will change in the future. Because our patent strategy will draw lessons from disputes with the chemical industry in Nichia.
The white LED Acriche driven by AC is the signature product of Seoul Semiconductor. I heard that other companies are also working on this AC-driven white LED.
Li: It is true. Everyone is actively researching and developing. But so far it has not reached productization.
It has been pointed out that Acriche has the disadvantage of not being bright enough compared to conventional white LEDs driven by DC. Please tell us about the development.
Li: It is steadily promoting development. The current general-purpose luminescent white LED named CoolWhite has a luminous efficiency of 80 lm/W, and the luminous efficiency of the bulb color is about 65 lm/W. However, this year's CoolWhite's luminous efficiency will increase to 100lm / W, the bulb color increased to 88lm / W. In this way, the brightness is fully met. In addition, the company's goal is to increase the luminous efficiency of CoolWhite to 120lm/W.
Will your company continue to produce blue LED chips used by Acriche on its own? Is there any plan to entrust other companies to produce?
Li: Will continue to produce independently and will not commission production. Because of our core technology, Acriche's chips are limited to autonomous production.
Recently, the LED industry has exploded. South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Samsung Motors will jointly set up the LED joint venture SamsungLED (tentatively). What impact do you think this new company will have on the LED industry?
Li: The impact will definitely be there, but it will not have a negative impact on the industry. Only with the increase of competitors, LED technology development and expansion can be improved.
At present, LED has begun to enter the backlight industry and the lighting source of notebook computers and LCD TVs. There is a common concern in the LED industry. Is there enough quantity of LEDs to provide two markets at the same time? For equipment manufacturers using LEDs, the biggest concern for them is whether they can ensure the number of LEDs that meet the requirements. To promote new products of LED lighting equipment, it is necessary to stably supply white LEDs in units of tens of millions. When we negotiated with a backlight manufacturer, we were asked how the LED lighting business would progress. It can be said that for equipment manufacturers, the number of guarantees is the most important. Because if you can't guarantee the quantity, there will be obstacles in product promotion.
Samsung Electronics and South Korea's LG Electronics are actively promoting the popularity of LED backlights. I am not a party, so I only speculate that Samsung Electronics’ decision this time reflects the company’s strong desire to stabilize LED purchases.
At this stage, our orders for LEDs for backlights and LEDs for lighting have already brought the factory to saturation production, even exceeding the existing production capacity.
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