Investigation into illegal sales of LED technology patented by UCSB

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) announced an investigation on Wednesday into the sales of LED technology patented by the University of California. On July 30, UC filed a complaint against five major retailers: Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ikea, Target, and Walmart for selling filament LED light bulbs without their authorization or royalties.

The UC patent replaces traditional incandescent light bulbs with filament LED, using about 90% less energy and lasting years longer. Light bulbs made with this technology are referred to as “Edison” or “vintage” light bulbs because they look like Thomas Edison’s iconic light bulbs with glowing filaments visible inside glass bulbs.

The University of California is leading this investigation as part of a first-of-its-kind patent enforcement campaign. The campaign seeks relief by the university system from the ITC. This lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

According to UC Santa Barbara, in 2019, the sales are projected more than $1 billion. Filament LED light bulbs first became available in 2014.

The technology, invented by a Nobel-laureate led team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara, saves money and reduces energy consumption and waste at a global scale, making meaningful contributions to solving some of the world’s most serious problems.

Seth Levy of Nixon Peabody is leading the campaign on behalf of the University of California.

“UC Santa Barbara is the first university to assert its intellectual property rights in this manner, against an entire industry through retail sellers of infringing products,” said Seth Levy. “We’re pleased the ITC will be investigating the retailers’ unauthorized exploitation of UC’s intellectual property rights, and we hope the patent enforcement campaign as a whole continues to demonstrate the importance of respecting the rights of university patent holders.”

UC Santa Barbara encouraged retailers to make filament LED lighting products widely available, but asked that retailers first obtain a license from them and pay a reasonable royalty.

According to UCSB, the manufacturers who infringed on the patent are based mainly in China, making it impractical and ineffective for them to file a lawsuit against them.