California Court Awards Lumileds $66M in Damages

On Aug. 10, 2018, a jury rendered a verdict in favor of Lumileds LLC, finding that Chinese competitor Elec-Tech International Co. Ltd. stole trade secrets related to Lumileds’ core technology for making high-power LEDs. The technology is used in flash phones, automotive headlights, and general illumination.

The $66 million awarded is the amount of research and development costs that the jury concluded Elec-Tech saved by using Lumileds’ trade secrets rather than engaging in its own development.

The jury concluded that Elec-Tech and former Lumileds employees misappropriated Lumileds’ trade secrets, took them to China, and used them to develop Elec-Tech’s LED technology.