Worker who helped create LED technology wins court battle against Nichia
A Japanese company has been ordered to pay a former employee $253 million in a landmark ruling on inventors’ rights in Japan.
Shuji Nakamura, now a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, helped develop the blue light-emitting diode — also known as LED. LED technology has proven highly profitable for his former employer, Nichia Corp., and is used in a wide-range of products including cell phones and traffic signals.
Nakamura, who is often named as a candidate for a Nobel prize, worked for Nichia for 20 years, during which time he said the company did little to support his work in developing LED.
The company filed an appeal shortly after the verdict.
“We immediately appeal this unjust ruling that overvalues one patent and fails to correctly assess the contributions of the many other researchers as well as the company,” read a statement issued by the company.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Nakamura said he worked long hours alone in his lab at Nichia, enduring ridicule and bureaucratic red tape typical at old-style Japanse companies. He quit in 1999.
“This is a case that gives children a dream toward science,” he said.
He said his legal fight is a battle for inventor and employee rights, and the AP said he has become a bit of a hero in Japan. He has written a number of books, has hit the Japanese lecture circuit and appeared in a clothing advertisement on television.
His lawyer, Hidetoshi Masunaga, said Japan needs to do more to strengthen the rights of individuals.
“Nakamura has been fighting the company alone,” he said. “Japan should no longer require workers to sell their soul to the company and give up their quest for justice and equality.”
