Subscribe

Leading Lights For OLED Patents

/ 15th August 2018 /
Subeditor

If a tech company somewhere in the world wants to launch a product with an OLED display, chances are that they’ll deal with Solas OLED at some point. The Dublin business specialises in collecting and managing intellectual property licences for OLED technology, and currently holds more than 700 patents.

OLED technology facilitates the high-definition colour displays on smartphones, digital cameras, some TVs, computer screens and other devices. Samsung's recently launched Note 9 and its smart watch, for example, utilise OLED technology.

It works by passing an electrical charge through containers with organic material that then light up. OLED differs from LED by being more vivid and more flexible – the light-emitting containers can be as large, small or thin as you want. LED is also used to backlight LCD displays, while OLED’s self-lighting tech can work by itself.

OLED technology is expensive but much in demand with device manufacturers. That spurs plenty of R&D, which in turn keeps Solas OLED busy snapping up IP.

Casio Patents

In Association with

The venture was founded by Gerald Padian, Stephen McErlain, Jeffrey Ronaldi and Richard Tashjian, and commenced trading on March 2016. Former Fordham University college buddies, they worked in Realtime Data, an American company with a focus on IP in data acceleration and compression. Ciaran O’Gara was drafted in as managing director in October 2016.

“Solas was formed to capitalise on a major opportunity in the OLED space,” O’Gara explains. “Casio, an OLED pioneer, put its technology up for sale a few years ago. We saw an opportunity and established Solas as a technology licensing business in this space.

"We have assembled one of the most comprehensive OLED portfolios in the world and we continue to seek, evaluate and acquire patents in the OLED space.”

Presumably there are sensible financial reasons for the American founders selecting Sandyford as their IP licensing base. The 2016 accounts for Solas OLED Ltd provide some indication of the high finance involved.

The accounts note a share issue in July 2017 that raised $35m, with the same investor, Realta Investments, lending the company $21m. A month later, the company paid a $35m dividend to shareholders. On the trading side, the company booked a loss of €1.6m in its first nine months of activity.

O’Gara says that favourable tax treatment was one of the reasons the Solas founders were attracted to Ireland. Another pull was the availability of skilled engineers and tech labs. Now with a team of eight, the company is scaling fast.

“Our goal is to help companies producing OLED products to avoid being closed out of certain markets because they have inadequate or non-existent patent coverage for the products they sell,” says O’Gara.

Patent Process

“We have partnered with several Irish research centres and universities, giving our engineers access to the latest analysis and imaging tools necessary for Solas to grow. We find the engineering and research climate in Ireland to be among the best in the world.”

Being granted a patent for new technology is a complex and expensive process, O’Gara adds. “In the last few years, the EU has taken great strides to streamline the patent process without allowing substandard patents.

"As for OLED, the technology has been around for decades but has only recently become viable commercially. As the demand for OLED displays increases, so does the need for patent coverage around the world.

“A license to our portfolio allows a new market entrant the freedom to operate in most of the major markets in the world. For the established OLED players, a license means protecting your market position.”

Photo: Ciaran O’Gara (right) with Colm O’Riordan, head of IP and patent engineering at Solas OLED

Sign up to The Business Plus Panel to help shape the business decisions of tomorrow and win vouchers for your opinions! 
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram