SETi alleges that two UV LED sterilization equipment companies, infringement of its six LED patents
Sensor Electronic Technology, Inc. ("SETi"), a global maker of UV leds, recently announced that it had filed patent infringement lawsuits against Bolb, Inc. ("Bolb") and Quantum Egg, Inc. (" q-egg ") in a northern district court in California. According to the claim of SETi, the UV LED sterilization device sold by Bolb and q-egg in the market violates 6 LED patents of SETi, which covers the basic technologies applicable to UV LED, including the structure and drive technology of UV LED sterilization device, LED chip manufacturing technology, and LED semiconductor culture technology.
SETi is one of the leading companies in the UV LED industry. Since its establishment in 1999, it has been specialized in the research and development of UV LED patent technology. SETi's expertise in the UV LED industry has been recognized by the fact that it has successfully completed government Projects, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, that focus on applying UV LED technology.
In addition, SETi has partnered with global UV LED firm Seoul viseki (" SVC "). The two sides have successfully developed Violeds, a purification technology suitable for sterilization, deodorization, light therapy and curing, through the cooperation of UV LED technology. The Violeds technology was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use on the international Space station.
The value of UV LED technology is rapidly increasing. It is estimated that the market capacity of UV LED in 2017 is USD 223million, while it is expected to grow to USD 1,224billion in 2022. That said, the UV LED market is set to grow at an annual rate of more than 33 percent. The application range of UV LED has been extended to many fields, such as curing device, medical equipment, air purifier, etc. In particular, its demand in the market of sterilization and purification technology is expected to be greatly increased in the future.
SETi considers the development of UV LED technology and its market to be encouraging, but the development accompanied by respect for intellectual property and fair competition is even more important. Recently, the number of products infringing the independently developed technical patents of SETi has increased. In this regard, SETi will strengthen market monitoring of patent infringement and actively implement its policy of dedicated protection of intellectual property rights.
"We will not tolerate products that infringe our patents to circulate freely in the market, so our company will, through legal procedures, take the companies involved seriously," SETi officials said.