May 17, 2005 - Nichia Corporation announced today that it will accelerate its patent enforcement against blue/white LEDs which infringe its intellectual property rights. Nichia had taken series of legal actions against certain LED manufacturers in order to protect its intellectual property rights, yet it believes its rights are not necessarily respected by certain companies in the industry.

?gIntellectual property has been an important issue for Nichia, and its importance will not be diminishing in the future.?h said Noboru Tazaki, Executive Vice President of Nichia Corporation, stressing, ?gwe are serious in protecting our rights, as well as business of our customers and our licensing partners.?h Some distributors are now marketing products with labels indicating they contain Nichia LEDs, and Nichia is not enforcing its LED patents against those labeled products.

Nichia is currently considering additional legal actions in several countries, and will commence if the infringement is found and the damage is untolerable.