The District Court Düsseldorf ordered a fine in white LED case
On January 18, 2011, the District Court Düsseldorf in Germany ordered The Republic Group Handelsvertretung GmbH (“TRG”) to comply with Nichia’s claims upon TRG’s acknowledgement and, in particular, to cease and desist from offering for sale, placing on the market or using, or importing or possessing for any of the aforesaid purposes in Germany regarding specific white LED products covered by Nichia’s YAG patent EP 936 682 (DE 697 02 929) .
However, TRG continued to offer for sale one of the attacked embodiments (Harvatek HT-U158TW) on its website after the judgment.
On July 25, 2011, therefore, the District Court Düsseldorf ordered TRG to pay a fine of EUR 5,000. According to the decision the District Court Düsseldorf concluded that, even if not intentionally, TRG caused the breach at least by gross negligence and, therefore, this cannot be regarded as a minor breach or “less severe case”, and it is for this reason that it cannot be ruled out that there will be another breach in the future.
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