The University of California is suing five major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target Corp, Ikea AB, and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc, over infringement among foreign suppliers for patents related to filament (“vintage” style) LED lamps. The University claims the retailers should enter license agreements and requested the Federal Trade Commission look into the retailers’ failure to require foreign suppliers to honor the patents.
According to Reuters:
According to the university’s lawyers at Nixon Peabody, the litigation is the first-of-its-kind “direct patent enforcement” campaign against an entire industry.
The university said it was intended “to spearhead a broader, national response to the existential threat” posed by the “widespread disregard” for the patent rights of universities, including when schools encourage the private sector to develop commercial products containing their research.
Get the story here.
