Shulin Dist., New Taipei City – Oct 11, 2018 – On October 1, 2018, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued its final order rejecting Nichia’s attempted appeal. The SCOTUS order means that the judgement finding that all asserted claims of Nichia’s white light LED patents US 5,998,925 and US 7,531,960 are invalid is FINAL and EVERLIGHT has won its ultimate victory.
EVERLIGHT filed a Declaratory Judgement action against Nichia in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on April 20, 2012 seeking a judgment that two of Nichia’s YAG white light LED patents (US 5,998,925 and US 7,531,960) were invalid, unenforceable, and improperly issued by the U.S. Patent Office to Nichia. On April 22, 2015, after a 12-day trial, the jury found all asserted claims of Nichia’s YAG white light LED patents invalid on the grounds that the patents were obvious over the prior art and separately found certain claims of the ’960 patent invalid for lack of enablement. The District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan confirmed the jury verdict on January 25, 2016. Nichia appealed, and changed its law firm when the case moved to case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). However, the CAFC affirmed the invalidity of the patents on March 30 this year. Nichia lost the appeal, then changed its law firm again to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court rejected Nichia’s attempted appeal of the judgment of invalidity. Nichia was defeated again.
The director of EVERLIGHT IP Department Lin, Hsien-Chia said, “the primary purpose of patent rights is to protect the innovative results of research and development, and the laws are created to encourage industrial development. When a competitor interrupts the market by means of lawsuit, we carry out persistent and relentless action as response, and commit ourselves in fair market competition.”
Below is the status of Nichia’s YAG white light patents:
| No. | Patent No. | Date | Current Status |
| 1 | US5998925 | October 1, 2018 | SCOTUS order rejecting attempted appeal of CAFC ruling that claims asserted by Nichia are invalid. |
| 2 | US7531960 | October 1, 2018 | SCOTUS order rejecting attempted appeal of CAFC ruling that claims asserted by Nichia are invalid. |
| 3 | US7915631 | May 29, 2018 | The Central District of California found the patent invalid. |
| 4 | US7901959 | May 29, 2018 | The Central District of California found the patent invalid. |
| 5 | TW 383508 | April 2018 | The Intellectual Property Court of Taiwan found the patent invalid. |
| 6 | CN200610095837.4 | September 2017 | The Patent Reexamination Board of CNIPA determined the patent invalid. |
EVERLIGHT continues to make efforts in and expand its ability of the research, production, and design of technology and products, and deepen its deployment of intellectual property rights to enhance product competitiveness. EVERLIGHT possesses a strong patent portfolio in the key markets including America, China, Japan, Europe, Korea and Taiwan, and will keep offering quality services and products to its customers. In response to any untrue market news about EVERLIGHT, EVERLIGHT will initiate international lawsuits as necessary to protect its customers’ and shareholders’ benefits and rights.
