The Light That Failed (at the ITC)

Edison

We have from time to time noted UC's patent litigation over an energy-saving light bulb design.* Things did not go well recently. From Reuters:

A group of companies including General Electric Co., Ikea Supply AG, and Home Depot Inc. on Tuesday defeated a request by the University of California for a U.S. appeals court to block imports of light bulbs that allegedly infringe its patents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision that the companies' light bulbs did not include a key element of the university's patented technology...

The university lodged the ITC complaint in 2020. It also filed related patent infringement lawsuits in federal court in 2019 against the companies and others including Amazon, Walmart and Target. Those cases have been paused for the ITC proceedings...

The commission entered a final decision against the university last year. The Federal Circuit agreed Tuesday that the companies' light bulbs did not infringe because they lacked a "molding" around the LED described in the university's patents.

Full story at https://www.reuters.com/legal/ge-ikea-home-depot-defeat-university-california-bid-light-bulb-import-bans-2023-05-16/.

*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2019/07/let-there-be-light-and-appropriate.html; https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2020/01/light.html.