UV LED product developer Sensor Electronic Technology, Inc. (SETi) announced that it successfully obtained a permanent injunction in a patent infringement lawsuit against Bolb and Quantum Egg (Q-Egg).
SETi filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Bolb and Q-Egg in the U.S. District Court in California in September 2018, accusing the two companies of selling UV LED sterilizing devices that infringe six LED patents of SETi. The asserted patents in this litigation cover fundamental UV LED technology, encompassing UV LED sterilizer structures and drivers, chip fabrication, and epitaxial layer growth.
The California Northern District federal court recently issued a permanent injunction against the sales of an accused UV LED sterilizer device, as well as any mere colorable variations, according to the parties’ stipulation. The Court will therefore prohibit the sale of similar products if they prove to be mere colorable variations of the accused products.

Bolb is a UV LED company co-founded by former SETi employees, and Q-Egg was the distributor of the accused UV LED sterilizer device.

The UV LED market has expanded to a range of fields, including air and water purification devices, as well as medical and bio devices for skin care. The UV LED market value will grow up to $1.2 billion in 2022 according to a market report from LEDinside (2018).
SETi has also collaborated with South Korean UV LED company Seoul Viosys, resulting in the development of Violeds technology for UV LED-based disinfection, deodorization, phototherapy and curing. Violeds technology has been used by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

(Image: SETi)

“It is difficult to survive on a long-term basis in the UV LED industry without a strong foundation in intellectual property and technology expertise, something that SETi and SVC have gained thanks to their extensive investment in research and development,” said Chae Hon Kim, CEO of SETi.