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Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next PageABE FMaGSnews+viewsCOLLABORATIONSNichia and Luminusform partnershipTwo LED manufacturers, Japan’s NichiaCorporation and US-based Luminus DevicesInc., have announced an alliance based oncross-licensing of IP, technology sharing, anda manufacturing partnership. Details of thebusiness agreement between these t woprivatelyheldcompanies areconfidential, although theysay that the shared objective is to acceleratethe adoption of solid-state lighting bycombining their technologies, includingNichia’s phosphors and epitaxial materialsand Luminus’ large-chip technology.Nichia and Luminus said they wouldcross-license IP and share critical processknowledge, resulting in new and innovativeproducts. The first two examples havealready been released; in mid-FebruaryLuminus launched two products includingthe SST-90, a large-chip white LED in a newsurface mount (SMT) package (see ____ www.ledsmagazine.com/press/18086). The packagecontains a single, monolithic die thatis nine square mm in size, and produces1,000 lumens with 10 watts input and 2,250lumens at its maximum rated drive current,with a color temperature of 6,500K. The companiessay they have also established a manufacturingpartnership, and each companywill “contribute the resources, materialsand capabilities needed to meet the qualityand performance requirements for theproducts.” ◀MORE DETAILS:www.ledsmagazine.com/news/6/2/2PATENTSSeoul and Nichia sign crosslicensingagreementTwo rival LED makers, Seoul SemiconductorCo., Ltd. of Korea and Nichia Corporation ofJapan, have settled all their various patentdisputes currently pending in the USA, theUK, Germany, Japan and Korea. The settlementincludes a cross-licensing agreementcovering LED and laser diode technologies,which will permit the companies to accessall of each other’s patented technologies.A Seoul Semiconductor spokesperson toldLEDs Magazine that its customers will nowbe more “comfortable” in buying Seoul’sLED products, because any possible supplyor litigation problems have been removed (atleast with respect to Nichia). Another consequencewill be that Seoul is now in a strongerposition to defend its IP rights againstthird-party companies, particularly thoseselling AC-driven LEDs that are similar toSeoul’s Acriche products. Two weeks afterthe cross-licensing announcement, however,Nichia issued a statement (www.ledsmagazine.com/news/6/3/3)saying that, despite_______________________the deal, there were no “understandings”or “cooperative marketing arrangements”between the two companies, who wouldremain “law-abiding competitors.”LIGHTING| web exclusiveFuture remodels with LEDsAt the Future Electronics EMEA headquarters nearLondon, it was decided to use SSL products tocreate a new lighting ambience and to replacemany of the existing halogen and CFL fi xtures.One goal was to promote the mission of FutureLighting Solutions by turning the building into abillboard for Luxeon-based lighting applications.The photo shows the boardroom, in which eachof the three drum-shaped fi xtures hanging abovethe conference table is fi tted with six warmwhiteDialight Lumidrives MR16-compatible lightengines for task lighting. The fi xtures are topped with 18 blue Luxeon I LEDs embedded ina custom light engine that bathes the ceiling in blue. Also, the 19 perimeter MR11 fi xtureswere retrofi tted with blue LED lamps to create a blue wash on the walls. Independentswitches make it possible to turn on only the blue lights when the room is not in use. ◀MORE DETAILS: www.ledsmagazine.com/features/6/3/8More Patent News:• Toyoda Gosei and Showa Denko signpatent cross-licensing agreement• Cree and Honeywell end their patentdisputeSEE www.ledsmagazine.com/news/6/3/21• Lynk Labs awarded AC LED technologypatentSEE www.ledsmagazine.com/news/6/2/7• Evident Tech issued patent for nanocrystalsynthesisSEE www.ledsmagazine.com/press/18034VENTURE CAPITALTerraLUX receives fundingAccess Venture Partners, a venture capitalfund, has closed an investment withTerraLUX, which designs and manufactureshigh-power LED OEM solutions. Thefunds will speed up TerraLUX’s expansioninto the portable and general lighting markets.TerraLUX plans to add senior managementplus development, manufacturing andengineering talent, and will also expand itsinventory to meet the increasing demandfor its patented LED light engines. “The tremendousdemand for LED lighting in theUSA is not being met today in quality, performanceor efficiency by current providers,”said Carl Kalin, VP of sales and marketing.8 APRIL 2009 LEDsmagazine.comPrevious Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next PageABE FMaGS