IP, Reports & Roadmaps | Aug 03, 2010

PHILIPS SSLS Licenses Patent Portfolio to Renaissance Lighting

Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, the new entity formed by Philips' acquisition of Color Kinetics, and Renaissance Lighting have completed a licensing agreement that provides Renaissance Lighting with access to Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions' worldwide patent portfolio. The agreement enables Renaissance Lighting to offer its own intelligent LED lighting products, as well as to use Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions' core technology in other new product development.

The global license agreement ends litigation previously brought by Color Kinetics against Renaissance Lighting and will apply in all markets covered by Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions' patent portfolio.

"The lighting industry is undergoing dramatic change as LED sources influence the design of completely new products and applications, particularly when combined with digital intelligence," said Bill Sims, CEO, Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions. "The power of our patented inventions makes it possible to customize environments with light as never before, and we continue to grant access to these inventions in part to help fuel greater adoption. We believe that Renaissance Lighting has a unique approach to color mixing that complements our own core method, and the combination should result in some powerful products."

"This licensing agreement moves Renaissance Lighting another step closer to its goal of becoming an important player in the solid-state lighting space," Barry Weinbaum, Renaissance Lighting CEO, said. "The realization that we have acquired immediate access to global patents and the global markets they represent is a huge reinforcement of our strategy to expand Renaissance Lighting's footprint and customer base while rapidly increasing shareholder value. We are being positioned to bring the advantages of LEDs and the dynamic impact they will have on the future of architectural lighting design."

Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions' patent portfolio focuses on a range of digital technologies and methods of controlling LED sources for a variety of lighting applications and environments.

Renaissance Lighting's own patented lighting systems are utilized by architects and space designers using a technique which blends light from multiple LEDs (light-emitting diodes) in order to produce an elegant, pure single light source. The company's environmentally green technology integrates internal sensors which constantly monitor and adjust light output and color. These same sensors have the ability to activate sleeper LEDs that compensate for the gradual degradation of a fixture's original LEDs during their 50,000- to 70,000-hour life span.

About Renaissance Lighting:
Renaissance Lighting, headquartered in Herndon, VA, produces highly creative lighting products delivering exceptional appearance, superior efficiency, and glare-free illumination for all architectural applications. The company's innovative approach to product engineering and design is supported by 25 patents including its optical and feedback control technologies.

About Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions:
Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, the new entity formed by Philips' acquisition of Color Kinetics, transforms environments through new, dynamic uses of light. Its award-winning lighting systems and technologies apply the benefits of LEDs as a highly efficient, long lasting, environmentally friendly, and inherently digital source of illumination - reinventing light itself as a highly controllable medium. Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions also enables widespread adoption of LED lighting through OEM and licensing partnerships in diverse markets. The company is headquartered in Burlington, MA with offices in the UK and China. More information is available at http://www.colorkinetics.com.

About Royal Philips Electronics:
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a global leader in healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle, delivering people-centric, innovative products, services and solutions through the brand promise of "sense and simplicity". Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 123,800 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of $36.8 billion (EUR 27 billion) in 2007, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, as well as lifestyle solutions for personal wellbeing. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.  

page_peel