Patents

US-based Ingantec announced that it has licensed a portfolio of patents and pending patents from Yale University, 20 issued patents and filings, covering key innovations in III-nitride optoelectronic devices, methods, and manufacturing processes.

The patents and IP include epitaxial growth and electrochemical etching techniques that utilize nanoporous GaN layers for advanced lattice strain engineering. Ingantec says that these technologies provide novel approaches for controlling material properties in GaN and related semiconductor alloys, with the potential to improve electrical, optical, and structural performance.

Becker Transactions announced a new upcoming sale of an LED packaging patent portfolio, developed and owned by The Netherlands based opto-electronic technology developer CATI B.V. This IP is mostly centered on Floating Chip Solutions (FCS), using liquid metal based low-temperature bonding technology.

According to CATI, this IP can be used in a wide range of applications - including visible, UV and IR LEDs, automotive opto-electronics, flexible electronics, sensors - and microLED displays.

MicroLED technology developer VueReal developed unique microLED manufacturing technologies, across a wide range of segments (metrology, transfer, pixel circuits, bonding, and more). The company has specifically developed several novel technologies around the use of microLEDs to create AR microdisplays.

VueReal has recently decided to focus on larger-area microLED displays, wearable displays, automotive solutions (such as its new smart mirror platform), and microLED lighting, and is looking for a company to exclusively license its microLED microdisplay IP portfolio. The company has over 400 patent applications (over 175 granted or issued patents), and a significant portion of these technologies relate to microdisplays.

Seoul Semiconductor announced that the Local Division Paris of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which has jurisdiction across 18 European countries, has issued a judgment that Laser Components SAS infringed Seoul Semiconductor core WICOP microLED technology patent. The court ordered an immediate ban on sales, as well as the recall and destruction of infringing products.

The UPC found that Laser Components, a global electronic components distributor, have sold products that infringed upon Seoul’s WICOP No-Wire microLED technology and structure.

US-based Ingantec announced that it has entered into an exclusive patent licensing agreement with the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). Under the agreement, Ingantec has acquired the exclusive rights to patents that cover innovative systems and methods for achieving industry-leading devices using Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) as well as other growth and fabrication processes.

Ingantec will use the technology developed at UCSB to produce highly-efficient next-generation microLED devices. The company is focused on developing efficient native GaN red devices.

According to The Elec, LG Display acquired 14 microLED related patents from Taiwan-based Ultra Display Technology. The patents mostly detail microLED transfer technology, but some are also related to microLED microdisplays. 

LG Display is stepping up its microLED projects. It has reportedly signed a deal to supply microLED backplanes to Apple, and has recently demonstrated 12" stretchable microLED displays. UDT's technology is focused on stamp-based microLED transfer. LG is also looking into fluidic processes for microLED transfer. 

Yole Developpement updated its MicroLED industry IP landscape report, and the company presented some interesting findings.

The number of MicroLED patents is now over 8,900, filed by almost 480 organizations. 40% of the patent families have been published in 2020.

LED developer Lextar and microLED display developer X Display Company (XDC) announced that the two companies entered into a development, licensing and services agreements. Lextar licensed XDC's IP and Lextar will supply its high-performance microLED chips to XDC's customers.

Lextar says that this agreement will accelerate the commercialization of next-generation microLED displays, and its customers can now benefit from a one-stop service, from microLED chips to display modules.

Yole Developpement reports that about 5,500 microLED patents (2,500 patent families) have been filed, by more than 350 organizations. The rate of patent filing is growing exponentially - 40% of the patents were filed in 2019.

According to Yole, the recent patent filing shows that the industry is moving from prototypes to commercial consumer displays. Other notable new finding include that startup companies are a major innovation force, Apple is slowing down with its IP (but this could mean that the company is now focused on commercialization), and Samsung pursues multiple development tracks. BOE is another strong microLED IP player, with almost 150 patent familiies filed in 2019.

UK-based GaN-On-Si MicroLED microdisplay developer Plessey Semiconductor announced that it managed to deposit native blue and green microLEDs on the same wafer. Plessey’s new patented process forms microLEDs that exhibit high current density operation and long operational lifetime.

Plessey said that to achieve this important milestone they had to overcome several challenges - including a magnesium memory effect, diffusion from the p-type cladding of the lower junction into the upper junction and the requirement for the precise tuning of the thermal budget during the growth of the second junction to prevent indium phase separation in the blue active region.