US 8124988

US Patent 8124988 — Summary

Bibliographic data

• Patent number: US8124988B2 (application no. US12/153,910)
• Title: Light emitting diode lamp package structure and assembly thereof
• Inventor: Jacky Peng
• Assignee (original/current): Semisilicon Technology Corp. (Taiwan)
• Filing date: May 28, 2008
• Issue date: February 28, 2012
• Legal status: Active; adjusted expiration listed as November 3, 2028. Maintenance fees paid through the 12th year (small entity).
• Earlier publication: US20090294782A1 (published December 3, 2009)
• Cited prior art (examiner-cited): US7473933B2 (Ledengin), US7717596B1 (Bell), US20080087903A1 (Patent-Treuhand)

Abstract (condensed)

A light-emitting diode (LED) lamp package in which multiple LEDs, a control integrated circuit (IC), a circuit board, and four electric-conductivity supports are encapsulated inside a package body. The supports are respectively a positive DC voltage pad (Vdd), a data-input pad (Din), a data-output pad (Dout), and a negative DC voltage pad (Vss). The invention also provides a LED lamp assembly with a LED lamp, lampshade, socket, and a mount formed with a socket having four electrode contacts, such that the four electric-conductivity supports contact the four electrode contacts when plugged together.

Plain-language overview of each original independent claim

• Claim 1 (LED lamp package structure): A package containing (a) plural LEDs sharing a common electrode end; (b) a control IC having data-in, data-out, positive power-in, and negative power-in electrodes, which receives external control data through Din and controls each LED's illumination; (c) four conductors — first = Vdd (tied to the LED common electrode and IC positive power), second = data input, third = data output, fourth = Vss (tied to IC negative power); and (d) a package body encapsulating the LEDs, IC, and conductors, with portions of the four conductors exposed outside the package. In essence: a self-contained, data-addressable LED package with power and serial-data pins.

• Claim 16 (LED lamp assembly): An assembly combining (a) a LED lamp whose package body encapsulates LEDs and four electric-conductivity supports; (b) a lampshade covering the package body; (c) a socket body having a perforation and a plug-in member, the perforation holding the LED lamp while leaving the four supports exposed; and (d) a mount formed with a socket containing four electrode contacts, so that when the socket is plugged into the mount's socket the four supports contact the four electrode contacts. In essence: a pluggable LED-lamp + socket + mount structure for easy lamp-string assembly and replacement.

• Claim 21 (LED lamp assembly — board-insertion variant): A LED lamp made of a package body plus a circuit board; the package body encapsulates LEDs and four electric-conductivity supports wired to the board, and the board carries a control IC and forms Vdd, data-in, data-out, and Vss electrodes. A lampshade covers the package, and a mount's socket has four electrode contacts that contact the board's four electrodes when the circuit board is inserted into the socket.

• Claim 22 (LED lamp assembly — two-mount variant): A LED lamp with a package body and a circuit board carrying LEDs and a control IC on one side; electrodes are placed on two opposing sides of the board, with a data-input electrode and a data-output electrode respectively on those two sides. A lampshade covers the lamp's periphery, and two mounts — each having a socket with matching electrode contacts — couple to the two opposing sides of the board, with the lampshade situated between the two mounts. In essence: a through-board serial connection topology where each LED lamp bridges two mounts.

• Claim 23 (package structure — partial-board encapsulation): A package with plural LEDs (each having a common electrode end) mounted on a circuit board; a package body encapsulating the LEDs and only a part of the board; and a control IC (with data-in and data-out electrodes) electrically connected to the LEDs. The portion of the circuit board exposed outside the package body carries the control IC, and the exposed board provides first, second, third, and fourth conductive regions ("conduct electricity" portions) exposed outside the package. (Dependent claim 24 clarifies those regions as Vdd+, data-out connection, data-out connection [as printed], and Vss−.)

Post-grant events noted (with caveats)

• According to the Google Patents legal-events table included in the supplied record, an inter partes review was filed (IPR2024-00157, petitioner Xu Peicheng (Hong Kong) Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd., filed November 8, 2023) and a request for reexamination was filed November 17, 2023. A reexamination certificate dated December 13/17, 2024 reportedly confirmed patentability of claims 1–15 and 22, cancelled claims 16–21 and 23–24, and added new claims 25–43. I could not independently verify this reexamination certificate via USPTO search results in this session, so treat that status as per the Google Patents metadata rather than confirmed USPTO data.
• Litigation references on the Google Patents page list cases in the Delaware District Court (1:25-cv-01566) and Florida Southern District Court (1:26-cv-23238; 0:26-cv-61380), plus a "not instituted (merits)" notation for IPR2024-00157. I did not independently verify these dockets.

CAFC 2026 docket search — result

• No CAFC (Federal Circuit) 2026 appeal involving US patent 8124988 was found in the searches performed. My searches of the USPTO/CAFC docket space for "8124988" plus "CAFC 2026" and related terms returned no matching Federal Circuit matter. The only hits were general patent-database pages (Google Patents, FreePatentsOnline) and a Darts-ip case-family listing that requires a subscription for case details. I therefore have no authoritative evidence of a 2026 CAFC appeal for this specific patent number; if one exists it was not surfaced in these searches, and I cannot confirm or rule it out.

Uncertainty notes

• I did not access the USPTO assignment database, PAIR/Patent Center, or the CAFC docket directly in this session; the bibliographic data above comes from the supplied Google Patents record (which the user directed me to treat as authoritative when conflicts arise) and is consistent with the FreePatentsOnline result.
• The reexamination certificate content, new claims 25–43, and the listed litigation matters come from third-party metadata and were not independently confirmed against official sources here.