August 20, 2012 — OSRAM AG and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. have reached an agreement to settle all patent suits between them worldwide. The patent suits have been filed in various countries, including Germany, South Korea and in the United States of America. The parties will dismiss all suits as expeditiously as possible, with a settlement consequently expected to be finalized by the end of August. As part of the settlement, the parties have reached license agreements for their respective light-emitting diode (LED) patent portfolios. The parties have also signed a separate memorandum of understanding to explore the possibilities of jointly developing future LED-based products.
“We are glad to enter with Samsung in a new area of partnership-based competition. We respect the intellectual property rights of other companies and it is our ongoing policy to reach license agreements with other manufacturers of LED products. Along these lines, we appreciate this out-of-court settlement with Samsung,” said Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of OSRAM AG.
“With the patent suits now behind us, we look forward to building a strategic relationship with OSRAM on a number of different fronts. There is a great deal of respect and also competition between the two companies. We believe the two companies now have an opportunity to significantly contribute to the LED industry and offer better products to our customers,” said Namseong Cho, Executive VP and General Manager of Samsung Electronics’ LED Business.
OSRAM AG (Munich, Germany) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG and one of the two leading light manufacturers in the world. In fiscal year 2011 (ended September 30, 2011), it generated revenue of about 5 billion Euros. Osram is a high-tech company in the lighting sector and more than 70 percent of its revenue comes from energy efficient products. The company, which is very much internationally oriented, has around 41,000 employees worldwide, supplying customers in 150 countries from its 44 production sites in 16 countries (as of September 30, 2011). Additional information can be found in the internet at www.osram.com.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206,000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.