Seoul Semiconductor and its affiliate Seoul Viosys have secured a permanent injunction in India against the infringement of their opto-semiconductor patents. The Delhi High Court also extended the injunction to the company’s managing director.
The Indian ruling follows similar decisions in Europe and the United States, reinforcing Seoul’s position in the global opto-semiconductor market, which is valued at approximately USD 200 billion. The market is expanding beyond automotive lighting and displays into optical communications for AI applications.
In India, Seoul Viosys won a final judgment against Ornate Agencies Private Limited. The order bars the company from selling products that infringe Seoul’s patents and separately prohibits its managing director from engaging in further infringement.
The latest ruling comes after the Unified Patent Court in Europe confirmed a permanent injunction in June last year against products infringing Seoul’s WICOP technology. The European order also required the recall and destruction of products that had already been sold, creating consequences that extend beyond damages or royalty payments.
In February, a U.S. court issued a permanent injunction against European opto-semiconductor applications company Laser Components USA, following a finding that its products infringed patents held by a Seoul affiliate. The products incorporated chips supplied by Korean company Photon Wave Co., Ltd..
The U.S. injunction prohibits the sale of the infringing products and any substantially similar products manufactured using the same process. It also applies to Laser Components’ officers, agents and employees, as well as Photon Wave personnel acting in concert with the company in the alleged infringement.
Together, the three cases cover patents related to core opto-semiconductor technologies, including Seoul’s light-output enhancement technology, WICOP technology for robust LED structures and a water-purification solution. The technologies have applications across automotive lighting, displays, mobile devices, general lighting and future AI data communications.
The patents form part of the approximately 15,000 patents held by Seoul Semiconductor and Seoul Viosys. The successive injunctions in Europe, the U.S. and India highlight the companies’ efforts to protect their core technologies and their standing in the global opto-semiconductor industry.
Leadership Comment
Founder Chung hoon Lee, who built his business from the ground up when Korea had no opto-semiconductor industry, said, “The patent system helps realize my belief that Birth is not fair, but opportunity must be fair. It helped drive industrial revolutions, sharply cutting poverty and infant mortality by 1900.” He added, “Just as ordinary people in IP-respecting countries can achieve big dreams, this system must impose strict penalties on leaders of infringing companies—as courts worldwide have done—so patents are respected globally and every young person and entrepreneur can live with hope.”
