LED Technology in Light Bulbs Spur Lawsuits

Seoul Viosys Co., Ltd., a global innovator of LED products and an affiliate of Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd., has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Feit Electric, one of the largest home lighting companies in the United States in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Meanwhile, in September, Feit Electric announced that it will protect its patents for light bulbs with visible white filaments and has since filed two lawsuits.

“We spend a lot of time reading customer reviews and listening to retailer feedback,” said Alan Feit, president of Feit Electric. “And we started hearing that some consumers had concerns about the more distinctive yellow filaments in LED bulbs especially when the lights were off in a fixture without any shades.

“They loved everything else about the light quality, long life, and energy savings of LED but not everyone liked the look. So, we wanted to introduce a fresh alternative to the traditional yellow filament with a more modern and minimal style.”

Feit Electric’s two lawsuits, filed earlier this year, do not include Seoul Viosys.

Seoul Viosys‘s complaint asserts that the LED lighting products manufactured and sold by Feit infringe six patented technologies jointly developed by Seoul Semiconductor and Seoul Viosys, including proprietary omnidirectional filament LED technology. Currently, about half of general household light bulbs are filament-type products.

Seoul Semiconductor has also successfully pursued lawsuits against filament LED patent infringers in Europe. In 2020, based on a finding of infringement of Seoul’s patent, the German District Court of Düsseldorf issued two orders for permanent injunctions, recalls and destructions of filament LED products manufactured and sold by the affiliate of Philips brand lighting. In 2023, thanks to the establishment of the Unified Patent Court in Europe in 2023, Seoul Semiconductor’s filament LED patented technology will be enforced in 18 European countries, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy.

Seoul Semiconductor has invested more than 10 percent of its revenue in LED research and development for the past 30 years, committing to the second-generation LED technology. Seoul has built one of the most extensive patent portfolios in the LED industry, holding rights to approximately 18,000 patents. This includes Seoul’s WICOP technology, which requires no wires and is essential for the production of Micro LEDs.

To foster a society where “Birth is Not Fair, but Opportunity Must be Fair,” Seoul Semiconductor and its affiliate have achieved successful results in 102 patent lawsuits in eight countries over the past 20 years. Seoul’s efforts to protect intellectual property also encourage the creation and investment of intellectual property, and have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

In March, Feit Electric filed a second white LED filament patent enforcement action against Savant Technologies LLC doing business as GE Lighting in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Despite being warned by Feit Electric, Savant imported and then sold white LED filament light bulbs marketed under the GE brand.  

Feit Electric introduced light bulbs with white LED filaments in August 2022 and the fresh alternative to the traditional yellow filament quickly appealed to retailers and consumers.  Anticipating that other light bulb suppliers might copy the Feit Electric white LED filament bulbs, Feit Electric announced to the industry that it owns a set of patents directed to covering the yellow material used on LED filaments.  

“Not only did we widely announce to the industry that Feit Electric owns a set of patents directed to covering the yellow material used on LED filaments, but we also specifically and directly informed Savant as well as retailers and other manufacturers,” said Feit. “Despite those warnings, Savant went forward with infringing white LED filament products.”  

Feit Electric is seeking an injunction to bar the further importation and sale of infringing white LED filament light bulbs, for damages, and for enhanced damages and attorney fees for willful infringement.  

“While we would prefer that our competitors respect our patents, we are committed to enforcing our patents against infringers if they do not.  We also hope that retailers look to us for light bulbs with visible white filaments, rather than infringers,” said Feit.  

In February, Feit Electric filed a patent infringement action against Ledvance, LLC in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.  According to Feit Electric, Ledvance imported and sold white LED filament light bulbs marketed under the brand name Sylvania. 

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