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Patents of major players in LED Industry

17-04-2014


Over the years,
LED lighting has been introduced into many different applications, such as commercial, residential, automotive, digital communications, TV displays, mobile devices, street lighting, and more. Due to its expansive applications and ever lowering prices, annual global sales are estimated to grow 54 percent from 2013 reaching US $24 million. The rapid growth of the industry has stimulated manufacturers to look for new ways to stay ahead of their counterparts. Market players are therefore looking for new patents in LED technology while strongly executing their IP rights.

 

A study has been recently made on leading companies with the most LED related patents. The study shows that over 22,000 USpatents related to LED technology are in the market, most of them have only been released within the past five to ten years. 

 

Major players in the LED industry are currently involved, on an average, in almost three active litigations per company, and in many additional licensing agreements. By all appearances, the LED industry’s patenting practices have matured even before the technology itself has.

 

The following is a table about  the top 15 manufacturers that have the largest amount ofUSparents related to LED technology. 

Company

Number of seminal LED patents

Share of seminal patents

Total number of LED patents

Total share of all LED patents

Samsung

69

3.97%

1369

6.04%

LG

58

3.34%

737

3.25%

Philips

120

6.90%

599

2.64%

GE

26

1.50%

328

1.45%

Osram

28

1.61%

321

1.42%

Panasonic

18

1.04%

290

1.28%

Kodak

10

0.58%

285

1.26%

Cree

40

2.30%

264

1.16%

Seiko

12

0.69%

262

1.16%

Sony

17

0.98%

261

1.15%

Sharp

9

0.52%

258

1.14%

AU Optronics

4

0.23%

249

1.10%

Hitachi

9

0.52%

224

0.99%

Hon Hai

16

0.92%

209

0.92%

Semicon Energy

5

0.29%

203

0.90%

Samsung defeats all competitors in the number of patents. However, in terms of seminal patents, Philips is the No.1 player. 

 

LED technology has been booming in the areas of R&D, patenting, and commercialization. However, this could in turn lead to patent wars in near future for the LED industry. 

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