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2 February 2009

 

Nichia and Luminus enter cross-licensing and manufacturing partnership

Nichia Corp of Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, which is reckoned to be the world's largest manufacturer of white LEDs, and Luminus Devices Inc of Billerica, MA, USA, which manufactures solid-state light sources for illumination applications, have announced an alliance based on
cross-licensing of intellectual property, technology sharing, and a manufacturing partnership. The two firms say that they have agreed to combine their expertise and resources to bring to market a new breed of high-power white LEDs.

The companies says that the combination of their technologies, including Nichia's phosphor and epitaxial materials and Luminus' PhlatLight (Photonic Lattice) large-chip technology, will create high-power LED products with the aim of enabling new applications that accelerate the adoption of solid-state lighting.

The firms will cross license intellectual property and share critical process knowledge which is expected to result in innovative products. They have also established a manufacturing partnership, whereby each firm will contribute the resources, materials and capabilities needed to meet the quality and performance requirements for the products.

"We look forward to working together to create environmentally friendly products," says Nichia's president Eiji Ogawa. "The biggest winners will be our customers, who will have unprecedented LED performance and the benefit
of a reliable, high-volume supply of these novel products," says Luminus' CEO Udi Meirav.

Some of the jointly developed products will be marketed by Nichia and others by Luminus, both of which will be able to use the PhlatLight trademark. The first of these products is planned for launch in 2009.

See related items:

Opto Tech and Nichia expand LED manufacturing collaboration

Bridgelux and Cree settle patent infringement litigation

Osram launches finer-tolerance binning for white LEDs

Osram agrees laser and LED patent exchange with Toyoda Gosei; wins patent dispute against Kingbright

Seoul signs LED patent cross-license agreement with Osram; Nichia lawsuit dismissed in US

Osram settles patent dispute as Citizen licenses white LED IP

Osram and Philips cross-license inorganic and organic LED patents

Search: Nichia Luminus Devices LEDs SSL

Visit: www.nichia.com

Visit: www.luminus.com

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