Seoul Semiconductor has ended its LED patent dispute with Philips by signing a cross-licensing agreement.

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ:046890), the Korea-based LED manufacturer, has announced that is has settled its LED patent dispute with Royal Philips Electronics.

According to Seoul’s press release, the two companies have agreed to settle their pending legal cases and to enter into a cross-license agreement covering patents relating to specific LED technology areas.

Under this arrangement, each party gains access to a substantial part of the other partys patent portfolios, says Seoul. At the time of writing, Philips and its LED-manufacturing subsidiary Lumileds have not released a statement.

The dispute stems from May 2011, when Philips’ lawsuit against Seoul was quickly followed by news of counter-actions by Seoul against Philips.

“As cross-license agreement details are usually kept confidential, we have agreed not to disclose any of the terms,” said John Bae, vice-president of Seoul Semiconductor. “We will continue to focus our attention towards innovative LED technology and driving adoption through quality and value.” By entering into this cross-license agreement with Philips, Seoul Semiconductor says that it “anticipates expanding its flexibility.”

Separately, Seoul Semiconductor recently introduced Acrich2, the latest versions of its highly successful AC-driven Acriche family. “We are very excited about our Acriche family of products and especially Acrich2, which was introduced in October 2011. Acrich2 eliminates many of the technical barriers associated with traditional high-voltage and AC-driven LED solutions,” said John Bae.

Seoul Semiconductor also holds patent agreements regarding LED technology with many leading LED manufacturers.

About the Author 

Tim Whitaker is the Editor of LEDs Magazine.