Taiwan-based LED maker Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. has amended its LED patent-infringement lawsuit against Nichia, alleging that its Japanese rival deliberately mislead the US Patent Trademark Office (PTO) with fictitious experiments and results. The accusations relate primarily to US patent no. 5,998,925, which is a fundamental patent covering the composition of certain types of phosphors used to make white LEDs.

Everlight, together with co-plaintiff Emcore, has filed an amended version of its complaint against Nichia in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The original complaint was filed on April 19, 2012.

The amended complaint says that individuals involved with the filing for US patent no. 5,998,925 “made misrepresentations to the PTO with the specific intent of deceiving the PTO in order to obtain broader protection to which Nichia was not lawfully entitled.”

Specifically, says Everlight’s complaint, the patent includes examples of phosphors that Nichia “never could have made…because they are chemically unstable using the type of fabrication methods Nichia described in the ‘925 patent.”

The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, invalidity and unenforceability of the ‘925 patent and one other Nichia patent, no. 7,531,960. The complaint also alleges infringement by Nichia of US patent no. 6,653,215, which covers LED metallization technology.