The patent of LED phosphor is the foundation of LED industry

According to the analysis of Yole, a French research institution, among the LED lighting patents, the patents involving LED phosphors are fundamental and therefore also influential. In the 1990s, researcher ShujiNakamura of Japan and Professor Akasaki of Nagoya University in Japan jointly developed a commercial GaN (Gallium nitride)Base blue LED. Soon, some basic patents for producing white LED using blue LED combined with fluorescent powder were submitted by Japan, Osram, ATMI and other companies respectively. Subsequently, by 2005, more and more companies started the competition in the LED industry, and these basic patents were quickly sought after by more and more application products, such as mobile phones, notebook computers, LCD TV displays and general lighting. The intellectual property of fluorescent powder is an important force in LED industry. There are as many as 40 lawsuits related to it. There are hundreds of enterprises involved in the intellectual property rights of LED phosphors, and most of them will list the transferees of patents. However, independent phosphor manufacturers, such as Intematix and Mitsubishi, are becoming the main force of LED phosphor intellectual property rights. Nowadays, high-performance silicate has been widely used as a substitute for YAG, and the focus of new combination development and patent protection has mostly turned to red and green converters. The market for new phosphors and some key intellectual property rights are currently dominated by Mitsubishi and Denka, which have been developed from NIMS (National Institute of Materials Science, Japan)Licenses for nitrides and oxynitrides were obtained. However, many other companies are also developing nitrides and nitrogen oxides, including Intematix, Beijing Yuji and Lightscape (Now it is Dow Electronic Material). The family of new materials is also regarded as promising phosphors, including tungstate, molybdate and fluoride advocated by GE. According to Yole Analysis, Quantum dots have finally become a reliable option after recent advances in thermal stability and manufacturability. In the lighting industry, the use of red quantum dots combined with standard phosphors may appear in Remote Phosphor Applications.