On January 30, 2004, the Tokyo District Court ordered Nichia Corporation to pay Shuji Nakamura $189 million for developing the blue light-emitting diode or LED during his two decades of employment at Nichia. The award reportedly is the largest ever given to an individual in a Japanese patent case.

LED has many uses, e. g., in traffic signals, mobile phones, and interior lighting, making its sales very profitable for the company. In plaintiff's opinion, however, the company did little to advance his LED work. Although Nichia has already appealed the monetary award, it is not clear whether Nakamura will try to contest the court's prior ruling that Nichia owned the LED patent. Often mentioned for a Nobel prize, Nakamura is now a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Citation: The Associated Press (online), Tokyo, Friday, January 30, 2004, at 13:33:54 GMT (byline of Yuri Kageyama).