This is a little off-topic, but are the diodes patented by Nichia? If not, then there's a good chance that they'll become very easy to obtain within the next few years.
The technology behind all GaN light-emitting devices was developed by Shuji Nakamura et al at Nichia. While I'm not 100% sure how the patent and intellectual property rights break down, I do know that Nichia is exceedingly zealous about protecting their IP. Dr. Nakamura is no longer with Nichia as a result of this zealousness, and the story that unfolded between them is a soap opera. I'm nearly 100% certain that Nichia gets payed by each and every company that makes blue LED/LDs, and will continue to do so for a very long time.
Yes I believe it was around 1993-94 that Mr. Shuji and Nichia came out with the blue LED so wouldn't it be aprox 20 years from then that the patent would run out ?
Oh, it is a sordid tale indeed, very complicated. Once you start reading, it takes a while to sort through the whole timeline in the early 2000s when all the legal battles over this stuff were being fought. Everybody was suing everyone else there for several years. Especially with Shuji suing Nichia and the umpteen versions of Nichia vs. Cree and Rohm and NCSU and everybody else out there, there was a big web of lawsuits there for a while. Nichia is no stranger to the court system.
Suffice to say, Nichia has a commanding lead in the GaN device patent arena, and also a commanding lead in "trade secrets" and industry know-how on how to do things. I want to say I've read they hold something like 2/3 of the GaN-related patents? And certainly many important ones, since they have ALL the original ones with a big lead on the competition. Their first patents begin expiring in 2010 though, 17 years since the first patents were filed in 1993. But things have advanced pretty far since then, the technology is more complicated now with a lot more involved, hence more intellectual property to fight over.
But they don't hold all the patents, AND there are big extensive patent licensing agreements in place between all the companies, often hammered out as the result of lawsuit settlements. Money changes hands, and all the companies use each other's patents.
But it's not just patents, Nichia's really big on trade secrets as well, they can sometimes do things other companies can't seem to reproduce. But other companies have secrets too.
And so there are several companies that can make blue laser diodes. Sony, Sanyo, Sharp, Rohm, Osram, and others come to mind immediately. There are what, a dozen companies out there that can make GaN laser diodes maybe? (just guessing there, I think a dozen is on the high end for lasers) Nichia is the leader of the pack, clearly, but they're not the only game in town. GaN laser diodes are just hard to make though. They're complicated and expensive, and that's just how it is. It's not like medicines where it costs millions to find it but then it's almost free to repeat it once you know the recipe, meaning generic drugs are way cheaper than the name-brand once the patents expire. Laser diodes are hard to make on a consistent basis at all. Even if you have the exact recipe, it's just hard and expensive to repeat it.
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