Seoul Semiconductor announced on March 5 that it has filed a patent lawsuit against global retailer Amazon in the Unified Patent Court in Europe seeking a ban on the sale of infringing products.
Seoul Semiconductor and its affiliates have obtained 15 injunctions against infringing manufacturers and sellers in the United States, Germany, France, and the Netherlands over the past five years, but it has been cumbersome to file lawsuits in each of these countries.
However, the opening of the Unified Patent Court in Europe in June 2023 which has general jurisdiction over European patent litigation has enabled Seoul Semiconductor to simultaneously ban the sale of infringing products distributed throughout Europe with one single lawsuit.
This is because an injunction and damages judgment from a court under the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court will come into force simultaneously in 17 European countries including Germany, France, and Italy.
Among Seoul Semiconductor’s 18,000-plus patents, the patent at issue in the lawsuit is a solution patent technology that enables the brightness and color of LED lighting products to be freely set in accordance with time. The patented technology is very popular among smart lighting products and color tunable lighting.
Other patents in the case include a patent for heat dissipation LED packages. This technology is widely used in automotive lighting where heat dissipation design matters.
“There may be unfairness in birth but opportunities should be fair in birth,” said Park Han-sun, vice president of marketing at Seoul Semiconductor. “Many large companies use ESG in marketing but they pay little attention to intellectual property, which leads to the distribution of illegal products and blocks the path to a fair society.”