In March, LEDinside witnessed a Chinese lighting company being caught red-handed for showcasing patent-infringing LED filament bulbs at Light + Building 2018. Slightly later than that, we also learnt Epistar has approached and initiated talks with a few companies for IP collaborations at that fair. At TILS 2018 in April, LEDinside interviewed Epistar and got more details about the matter.

In wake of policies to prohibit the use of incandescent bulbs and traditional mercury-containing lighting fixtures by 2020, the growth of LED filament has been escalating. Apart from the steadily-growing demand from Europe, the LED filament market in the US has even experienced a significant demand surge over the past two years. The manufacturing of LED filament bulbs also increased accordingly at the supply side. They now can be seen almost everywhere, at not only wholesaler markets but also small- and mid-sized retailers. 

However, intellectual properties are yet to be fully respected while lighting manufacturers are producing LED filament bulbs, resulting in recurring imitations of both external and internal structures. Due to the fact that some aspects of its patents have been either misunderstood or neglected, Epistar approached at Light + Building 2018 several companies from China, Europe, and the States to clarify some concepts regarding its patents in hope to raise their awareness towards its IP value, according to the company.

Most of the feedback gathered were positive, including a few expressing interest in collaboration with Epistar.

Epistar has currently filed four patent lawsuits in the US, with one settled and three underway. Epistar added that it has only licensed its patents to QLS, Supertrend and Kaistar. The company stressed that any news with license recipients other than those three companies is false information and should not be allowed to be circulated. 

Read also:

Light + Building 2018: LED Filament Patent Infringement Caught Red-Handed

Epistar Takes Legal Actions to Protect Its LED Filament Patents