Nichia Softens "No Licence" Stand Towards Toyoda Gosei- Is This The End To Their Blue Laser Battle?

TOKYO, Aug 9 Edmund Klamann wrting for Reuters reports that Japan's Toyoda Gosei Co and Nichia Corp, locked in a bitter legal battle over patents for blue light-emitting diodes used in displays and lighting, said on Friday they began talks aimed at ending their six-year dispute.

The thaw between the two companies followed signs in June that the unlisted Nichia, a pioneer in developing blue LEDs and lasers, was easing away from its strict policy of refusing to license the technology to other firms.

Nichia has been involved in a series of lawsuits and counter-suits over the blue-light technology, which could be essential to many promising future products such as high-density DVD recorders and ultra-cheap, long-lasting lighting.

"We have agreed to enter into negotiations in good faith aimed at resolving all the lawsuits that have emerged between the two companies both inside and outside Japan over several years," Nichia and Toyoda Gosei said in a joint statement.

The announcement came after the close of trade on Friday, although media reports late in the session indicated an announcement was imminent, spurring a surge in Toyoda Gosei's share price.

The company, a Toyota Motor Corp affiliate that makes plastic and rubber car parts, ended 11.15 percent higher at 1,555 yen, its highest close in seven weeks and handily exceeding the benchmark Nikkei average's two percent rise.

In addition to Toyoda Gosei, Nichia's courtroom opponents have included Japanese chipmaker Rohm Co Ltd, U.S.-based technology firm Cree Inc, and Shuji Nakamura, the scientist and former employee who developed the blue diode technology.

Nakamura has since quit the company and accused it of exploiting his discoveries.

A Toyoda Gosei spokesman said the agreement followed a suggestion by the Osaka district court that the two negotiate a settlement to patent disputes before the court.

A Nichia spokesman could not be reached for further comment.

In an apparent about-face on its no-licensing policy, Nichia announced on June 25 a cross-licence agreement with Germany's Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH, resolving patent disputes between the two over indium gallium nitride technology.

That technology is used to make blue and white LEDs, which are found in backlights for cellphone screens and in other display devices.

It is also used in blue lasers, which several Japanese electronics giants, including Sanyo Electric Co, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and Sony Corp, are developing for next-generation DVD recorders.

Blue light, with a shorter wavelength than the currently standard red, would allow much more data to be stored on a single DVD.

The blue technology proved stubbornly hard to develop, and some Japanese industry executives have criticised Nichia's tight grip on its technology for undermining the Japanese electronics industry's development of potentially key products.