Subject category:
Economics, Politics and Business Environment
Published by:
IBS Case Development Center
Length: 12 pages
Data source: Published sources
Topics:
Shuji Nakamura; Nichia Corporation; Employee Invention System in Japan; Japan’s corporate culture; Amendments in Japanese Patent Law; US Patent Law; Blue LED's (Light Emitting Diodes); Intellectual property rights; Nakamura’s contribution to Nichia; Nichia’s profits with blue LEDs; Patent transfer; Japan Inc
Abstract
Shuji Nakamura (Nakamura), an employee of Nichia Corporation (Nichia) in Japan, invented the world''s first blue-LED''s in the mid-1990s. He was paid an annual salary of US$100,000. He resigned from Nichia Corporation in 1999 and joined the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) as a professor in the materials department, where he continued to work on LED''s. Prompted by this, Nichia filed a case against Nakamura in 2001 for infringing the patents on the blue LED''s. Nakamura also filed a lawsuit against his former employer demanding a fair share of profits that the company had made by selling his invention. After three years of legal tussle, Nichia paid Nakamura US$8.1 million. This case study, while highlighting the compensation practices of Japanese corporations to their researchers, offers scope to discuss how the Nakamura vs Nichia case has helped in bringing about a change in Japan''s Patent Laws and recognition practices to employee inventions.
About
Abstract
Shuji Nakamura (Nakamura), an employee of Nichia Corporation (Nichia) in Japan, invented the world''s first blue-LED''s in the mid-1990s. He was paid an annual salary of US$100,000. He resigned from Nichia Corporation in 1999 and joined the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA) as a professor in the materials department, where he continued to work on LED''s. Prompted by this, Nichia filed a case against Nakamura in 2001 for infringing the patents on the blue LED''s. Nakamura also filed a lawsuit against his former employer demanding a fair share of profits that the company had made by selling his invention. After three years of legal tussle, Nichia paid Nakamura US$8.1 million. This case study, while highlighting the compensation practices of Japanese corporations to their researchers, offers scope to discuss how the Nakamura vs Nichia case has helped in bringing about a change in Japan''s Patent Laws and recognition practices to employee inventions.