South Korea’s light-emitting diode (LED) maker Seoul Semiconductor Co. has filed three separate patent infringement lawsuits with its affiliate Seoul Viosys Co. against American lamp retailers and a lighting company in the United States.

Seoul Semiconductor said Thursday that the company and its affiliate Seoul Viosys filed a lawsuit against American online lighting products retailer Service Lighting and Electrical Supplies Inc. in the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Texas for the sale of LED products that violates their indigenous Acrich technology. Also, it filed a similar lawsuit against another American wholesaler and distributor of electrical supplies Philcor T.V. & Electronic Leasing, Inc. in a district court in Nevada.

In complaints, Seoul Semiconductor asserts the U.S replacement lighting product sellers sell LED products that allegedly infringe their patents on Acrich technology.

Separately in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Seoul Semiconductor filed another patent suit against American lighting company Archipelago Lighting, Inc. with which a court battle has been ongoing since September last year. In the previous suit, Seoul Semiconductor claimed Archipelago Lighting’s various LED bulbs violate its 12 patents related to its Acrich technology. The Korean firm said it found Archipelago Lighting’s other products infringe its 8 other patents on the Acrich technology.

As of 1:57 p.m. Friday, shares of Seoul Semiconductor are up 2.82 percent at 23,700 won ($22.18) in Seoul Trading. Seoul Viosys is unlisted.

Seoul Semiconductor’s Acrich technology enables designing of a high-voltage, high-power LED product with only a few LED units. It is employed not only in general lightings but also in a wide range of electrical devices and automobile lightings across the world.

“To protect the Acrich technology, we will continue to warn those violating our patent rights and take all legal actions against them,” said the company. “Separately in the near future, we will release a patent licensing program for wider adoption of the Acrich technology.”

Established in 1987, Seoul Semiconductor is one of the world’s top five LED companies. It holds over 10,000 patents, trademarks, and design rights at home and abroad and has been aggressively seeking legal actions against its competitors that are allegedly violating its patents.

By Ahn Byung-joon and Cho Jeehyun

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