Cree version....
biz.yahoo.com
Cree Wins Favorable Decision in Patent Litigation; Tokyo District Court Dismisses Suit Filed by Nichia Corporation
DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE - news) today announced that the Tokyo District Court has dismissed the lawsuit filed in April 2000 by Nichia Corporation against Sumitomo Corporation, one of Cree's distributors in Japan. Nichia alleged that certain Cree LED products infringe Japanese Patent No. 2,778,405. The complaint was directed to Cree's high brightness LED products and certain of its low current LED products and sought an injunction against sale of the products in Japan.
In its decision, handed down December 20, 2001 in Tokyo, a three-member panel of judges found that the Cree products did not infringe the patent. Cree, which had previously intervened in the case, argued that its products utilize a structure fundamentally different from the invention claimed in the patent.
``The Tokyo District Court's decision represents yet another victory for Cree,'' commented Chuck Swoboda, Cree's President and Chief Executive Officer. ``We have again succeeded in defending our products against allegations of patent infringement by Nichia Corporation. Our continued success lends further support to our long-standing belief that Cree's silicon carbide-based LEDs differ in significant ways from LEDs produced by our competitors.'' |
