On February 24, 2012, Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. ("Toyoda Gosei") filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Taoyuan District Court (Taiwan) against Formosa Epitaxy Inc. ("Forepi"; head office: Taoyuan County, Taiwan), an LED chip manufacturer. The lawsuit alleges that the defendant is infringing Toyoda Gosei's patents (*1) with regard to gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diodes (“LED chips”) and seeks an injunction against a plurality of Forepi LED products.

Prior to the lawsuit in Taiwan, Toyoda Gosei also filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the United States District Court, Northern District of California on February 21, 2012 against Forepi’s infringement of Toyoda Gosei’s LED chip patents (*2), seeking damages and an injunction against a plurality of Forepi LED products, amongst other remedies .

Toyoda Gosei, as one of the first companies to develop LED chip, is a leading company in the industry. As the fruits of its research and development, Toyoda Gosei has obtained numbers of LED-related intellectual property rights worldwide. We have respected others’ and our own intellectual property rights in Japan and other countries, and have made our best efforts to further develop the market. Particularly in Taiwan, we have not only manufactured and sold our products and procured parts, but we have also established cooperative relationships with our partner firms with regards to manufacturing.

To establish an environment of fair competition and for the further development and expansion of the LED chip market, Toyoda Gosei advises the fullest caution in respecting and avoiding infringements of patents relating to gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diodes when manufacturing, selling and/or using LED chips and products thereof.

(*1) The object patents of Taiwan lawsuit
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(*2) The object patents of the U.S. lawsuit
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