Nichia Corporation won an important victory in California when Judge George Wu of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held that Feit Electric Co., Inc. had failed to sustain its defense that Nichia’s U.S. Patent No. 9,752,734 ("the '734 Patent") is unenforceable due to Nichia’s alleged inequitable conduct. Feit argued that Nichia lied to the USPTO in a petition to revive the application leading to the ’734 Patent after the application had been abandoned. In his brief ruling, Judge Wu held that Feit had not sustained its burden to show that Nichia had intentionally deceived the USPTO. Judge Wu said that he will issue his full opinion in due course.
Nichia sued Feit in 2020 claiming that Feit’s filament-style LED bulbs infringe the ’734 Patent. In 2021, Feit amended its answer to add an inequitable conduct defense. Judge Wu conducted a bench trial on that issue in and heard closing arguments a month later. A jury trial on the remaining issues is scheduled in Los Angeles.
Rothwell Figg attorneys Robert Parker, Martin Zoltick, Michael Jones, Jenny Colgate, Mark Rawls, Nicole DeAbrantes, D. Lawson Allen, and Richard Waterman represent Nichia.
