Seoul Semiconductor

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:046890), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, and its affiliate Seoul Viosys (together “Seoul”) announces that the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) has issued a judgment ordering a sales ban, recall and destruction of products infringing Seoul’s “No Wire” (WICOP) patent in eight European countries.

According to the October 10, 2024 judgment, Expert e-Commerce, the third largest European online retailer with roughly $14 billion in annual revenue, has been ordered to stop selling infringing products in eight European countries. It was also ordered by the UPC to retrieve and destroy infringing products.

Since the foundation of the UPC, Seoul is the first non-European patent holder to win a judgment in the main patent infringement proceedings. This judgment also set a record for the highest number of countries subject to the UPC’s order for injunctions and recall and destruction of infringing products.

In the past, patent infringement decisions were only effective on a country-by-country basis, forcing patent holders to spend significant time and cost in enforcing patents across different European countries. Seoul also confronted LED companies that evaded enforcement by merely changing product names and then continuing to sell infringing products, along with large corporations that knowingly purchased such products.

However, this UPC decision will result in a comprehensive sales ban against infringing products across various European countries, and fully confirm the validity of Seoul’s No-Wire patent. As a result, Seoul anticipates swift enforcement against infringers.

Seoul’s No Wire technology enables LED miniaturization and improves light extraction efficiency by enhancing light reflection and current spreading. These advantages are essential for high-efficiency LEDs in multiple industries, such as LEDs for mobile phone flash, micro LED displays, automotive headlamps, and high power lighting.

Chung Hoon Lee, Seoul’s founder and CEO said, “There may be unfairness in birth but opportunities should be fair in life.” He also added, “A culture of respecting patents will motivate young people and small businesses to pursue innovation, ultimately contributing to the development of a better world.”

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ: 046890), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, and its affiliate Seoul Viosys (together “Seoul”), announces that it has won a patent litigation case against Everlight, a Taiwanese LED company ranked 6th globally.

In August 2024, the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) dismissed Everlight’s patent invalidation action against Seoul’s WICOP patent - No Wire LED technology. This decision has once again confirmed the strength of the WICOP patent portfolios registered across 18 European countries.

Since the ruling of the UK Patents Court in 2018, Seoul has won all patent lawsuits against Everlight and its distributor. These victories have spanned across five countries over the past seven years. Seoul has won lawsuits related to WICOP technology applied in lighting, automotive, and display applications, as well as those involving fundamental LED patents, thereby gaining recognition for the strength of Seoul’s patented technology.

The No Wire LED technology is an essential technology used not only in display products such as Micro LEDs, but also in new technologies like ADB headlamps and STOP lamps that communicate with and help protect drivers and pedestrians in the automotive sector.

LEDs opened a new era for optical semiconductors with the development of blue and white LEDs by Dr. Shuji Nakamura, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, contributing to longer lifespans and energy savings across various applications. However, many companies have focused solely on price competitiveness and performance in LED development, ignoring some of the potential health impacts of certain lighting.

Seoul has invested nearly $100 million annually, which is 10% of its sales, in research and development (R&D) over the past 20 years to create new lighting. This investment has led to the successful development of technologies such as SunLike, which produces natural light that can alleviate the health effects of artificial indoor lighting, and No Wire Technology WICOP. With an overwhelming 18,000 patents in the LED industry, Seoul’s unique value in advanced technology has been recognized once again in this litigation.

Chung Hoon Lee, Seoul’s founder and CEO, said, “Immoral companies continue to sell infringing products by simply changing a product’s name even after patent infringement judgments, and some large corporations knowingly use infringing products to save a few cents. It drives young startup founders and innovative companies to despair.”

Mr. Lee was born as the son of a farmer and, by mortgaging his home, rented a corner of a commercial building and invested nearly $100 million annually in research and development. Through this effort, he built Seoul Semiconductor and Seoul Viosys into today’s global LED companies with an overwhelming 18,000 patents.

Seoul believes that while the fate given to us from birth cannot be controlled, opportunities in society should be fair so that young people and companies can achieve success.

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:046890), a global optical semiconductor manufacturer, will participate in Automotive World 2024, to be held in Tokyo, Japan, starting on September 04, 2024, for the first time in its history to showcase next-generation innovative LED technologies, leading a paradigm shift in the world’s automotive market under the theme of “from a simple transportation mode to means for communication and comfort.”

Seoul Semiconductor supplies a wide range of total auto solutions including lighting, displays, and disinfection systems. In particular, WICOP, a no-wire and no-package LED technology, makes it possible to manufacture micro and high-efficiency LEDs. As a result, it has been applied to more than 100 models by the world’s top 10 clients every year, producing impressive results backed by globally recognized technological prowess and expertise. According to LED market share data announced by Omdia, a global market research agency, in July, the company ranked No.1 in the world in the segment of backlights, attracting keen attention from potential customers in Japan.

Communication & Healthy Interior Lighting​

Exhibition visitors are expected to directly witness LED technologies for automotive interior and exterior systems including WICOP-based adaptive driving beams (ADB), grille displays, and rear lamps, as well as SunLike, a healthy interior lighting source that enables users to maintain their circadian rhythm 24 hours a day with a natural spectrum, and Violeds, a disinfection technology that will protect people from the threat of viruses, all of which will be presented by Seoul Semiconductor.

Seoul Semiconductor Vice President Park In-heum, the automotive business team leader, said, “We will release our IP power product lineup for future vehicles to actively strengthen collaboration with OEMs and clients in the Japanese automotive market. This exhibition will serve as an opportunity for us to lead a paradigm shift in the world’s automotive market”

Seoul Semiconductor’s products will be exhibited at booth 4-38 during Automotive World 2024.

Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ:046890) will participate in Light + Building 2024, the world’s largest lighting trade exhibition to be held in Frankfurt, Germany from the 3rd to the 8th of March. At the event, Seoul Semiconductor will showcase its exclusive and the world’s first LED lighting solutions of the highest efficiency and highest quality of light Spectrum.

Seoul Semiconductor is expected to unveil its ‘WICOP’ technology-based high-efficiency lighting system of 240 lumens per watt (lm/W), which is still the leading industry standard. Being the world’s first No-Wire and No-Package technology, WICOP is an ultra-small, high-efficiency LED technology designed to mount LEDs directly on a circuit board. At Light + Building, Seoul Semiconductor will exhibit applications using various wavelength bands from UV to IR/VCSEL.

In addition, Seoul Semiconductor will also feature its ‘SunLike’ technology of the highest quality of light Spectrum. For the past five years, Seoul Semiconductor carried out multiple clinical trials with various leading institutions, including Harvard University, confirming that the use of SunLike lighting can improve myopia, cell regeneration, memory, and learning abilities. An interactive booth will be operated for a hands-on experience of SunLike.

“Through the highest-efficiency products we will showcase at this exhibition, Seoul Semiconductor aims to become the best partner for all clients in every application field, including lighting, automobiles, and home appliances,” said Kim Hong min, Director of the Lighting Department.

South Korea-Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:046890), a global optical semiconductor company, announced on December 18 that it has verified through an experiment that natural spectrum lighting can promote stable growth and increase the content of effective nutrients in plants as daylighting does for plants grown in nature.

Seoul Semiconductor used both regular white LED lights and SunLike natural spectrum LED lights to grow lettuce, a vegetable commonly used as a food ingredient. The use of SunLike LED lighting resulted in an increase in lettuce yield and a significant increase in chlorogenic acid and chicoric acid, which are antioxidants and important nutrients, by more than 30% compared to the use of regular white LED lighting.

Seoul Semiconductor has been operating its own plant cultivation and research farm for the past 10 years. It studies growth and nutrient changes in a great variety of plants and nuts brought about by different light sources while measuring nutrients and conducting experiments on the effects of nutrients on cells.

In this comparative experiment, a regular white LED and a light equipped with a SunLike LED similar to a natural light spectrum – both of the same brightness – were installed separately, and the yields of lettuce and the contents of the antioxidants – chlorogenic acid and chicory acid – were compared for 3 weeks. Chlorogenic acid and chicoric acid are known for removing free radicals from the body, suppressing aging and inflammation, and preventing diseases such as aging, reduced vision, Alzheimer's, and arthritis.

The results show that the yield of lettuce grown under SunLike LED lighting increased slightly by 4% compared to regular white LED lighting, whereas chlorogenic acid and chicory acid increased by 55% and 31%, respectively. This confirms that using lighting closer to natural light in cultivation leads to higher nutrient content in plants.

Light spectrums affect plants and animals. Exposure to artificial light can interfere with frogs’ mating behavior, resulting in mutant tadpoles, and causing a 10-20% decrease in yields of sesame and other fruits. Sunflowers, for which the natural light spectrum was not used, suffered a decrease in bee visits.

Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ:046890), a global optical semiconductor company, will participate in the Vehicle Displays & Interfaces Symposium 2023, organized by the Society of Information Display (SID), to be held in Detroit, USA, on September 26 and 27. During the event, the company will exhibit its LED products designed for future vehicle displays.

This exhibition will give visitors an opportunity to discover Seoul Semiconductor’s innovative LED technologies for future in-vehicle displays, such as ‘1515’, ‘Mini LED’ products for local dimming, and ‘WICOP Pixel’ microLED, in line with the evolution of automotive displays, which are increasing in size and resolution.

“1515”, an ultra-small LED for local dimming

Seoul Semiconductor will exhibit “1515”, an ultra-small LED product optimized for full-array local dimming, which divides the LED backlight into multiple zones that can be controlled independently. 1515 helps achieve a high brightness display with superb contrast ratios, as it can control light output to a very fine level on the strength of its small size and excellent performance.

“Mini-LED” with ultra-high resolution and maximized visibility

Seoul Semiconductor will also showcase Mini-LED, a product of its advanced backlight technology. Its backlight chip has been reduced to smaller than one-tenth of the typical size and mounted in large quantities on a vehicle display, enabling delicate brightness control, a high contrast ratio, and high color reproduction. Visibility has also been maximized, considering the bright in-car environment.

The world's first RGB one-chip technology, “WICOP Pixel” MicroLED Display

Seoul Semiconductor will also exhibit its WICOP Pixel MicroLED display. WICOP Pixel is the world's first full-color one-chip technology that stacks three color LEDs (RGB) vertically. This technology allows RGB LEDs to emit light as if they are a single pixel, enabling not only the uniform representation of colors but also the reproduction of a wide range of black colors – three times superior to existing microLED devices.

Michel Zwanenburg, the Executive Vice President of the IT Sales Group at Seoul Semiconductor, said, “We will continue to develop and supply LED products for future automobiles that meet our customers demand in these very exciting times for Automotive Displays.”

Introducing a high-efficiency, high-CRI indoor product featuring the innovative technology "Narrow Peak Red" (NPR). Elevate your indoor experiences with our cutting-edge NPR technology!

Key Features

• Enhanced Efficiency: Our new product incorporates NPR technology, ensuring optimized energy usage and reducing operational costs.
• Superior CRI: Experience vivid and lifelike colors with the high-color reproduction capability of NPR.
• Perfect for Indoor Settings: Designed specifically for indoor environments, our product delivers exceptional performance in various lighting conditions.

Contact us for more information and to explore how our new product can transform your space.